FROM  A   PHOTOGRAPH    BY   BECKER  &   MAASS,    BERLIN. 


Ellen   Key 

Her  Life  and  Her  Work 

By 

Louise  Nystrom-HamSton 

Authorised  Translation  from  the  Swedish  by 

A.  £.  B.  Fries 

With  an  Litroduction  by 

Havelock  Ellis 


G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons 

New   York  and   London 
Ube  Iknfcftcrbocfter  press 

1913 


Copyright,  1913 

BY 

G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 


"Zbc  ftntcJier'boclJcr  ipresa,  "Kew  ]3orlt 


INTRODUCTION 

NOT  a  few  among  those  who  read  Ellen 
Key's  books  and  hear  of  her  influence 
in  the  world,  have  desired  to  know  more  of 
her  life  than  has  yet  been  placed  before  the 
English  reader.  Such  desire  will  be  to  some 
extent  satisfied  by  this  translation  of  the 
biography  written  by  Mrs.  Louise  Nystrom- 
Hamilton.  It  is  simply,  as  the  author  herself 
states,  a  record  of  external  events  such  as  we 
may  reasonably  expect  in  the  biography  of  a 
living  person,  without  any  attempt  to  esti- 
mate Ellen  Key's  work  or  even  to  propagan- 
dise her  doctrines.  The  sketch  is  slight,  but 
we  can  regard  it  as  competent.  Mrs.  Nys- 
trom-Hamilton,  who  was  independently  ac- 
quainted with  the  Key  family,  has  known 
Ellen  Key  for  many  years,  and  been  associated 
with  her  work,  for  she  is  the  wife  of  Dr. 
Anton  Nystrom,  who  founded  the  People's 
Institute  at  Stockholm  where  Ellen  Key  lec- 
tured for  twenty  years.  She  has  also  written 
several  books  on  the  sexual  life  (one  of  them 


iv  Introduction 

translated  into  English)  which,  though  their 
scientific  value  has  been  disputed,  are  in- 
spired throughout  by  a  fine  humanitarian  zeal. 
What  Mrs.  Nystrom-Hamilton  has  to  tell  may 
thus  be  received  with  confidence  as  coming 
out  of  the  circle  in  which  Ellen  Key  has  spent 
the  greater  part  of  her  active  life.  If  she 
wisely  refrains  from  any  attempt  at  a  final 
estimate  of  Ellen  Key,  she  at  all  events 
assists  us  to  form  our  own  opinions. 

Ellen  Key  has  sometimes  been  called  the 
modem  St.  Brigitta.  That  famous  saint  of 
the  North  came  out  of  Sweden  six  hundred 
years  ago  to  write  her  book  of  Revelations  and 
to  attempt  the  moral  reformation  of  her  age. 
To-day,  with  a  similar  spontaneous  energy,  a 
similar  seh-inspired  vocation,  Ellen  Key  comes 
to  us  out  of  Sweden  to  preach  a  moral  re- 
formation of  a  somewhat  different  kind.  Her 
message  has  not  been  the  outcome  of  historical 
study  or  of  sociological  investigation.  Not- 
withstanding the  wide  and  miscellaneous 
culture  which  circumstance  and  an  eagerly 
receptive  brain  enabled  her  to  acquire,  her 
temperamental  activities  have  throughout 
been  of  a  rich  and  impulsive  rather  than  of 
a  scientific  and  methodical  character.  Her 
attitude   has    been    the    outcome    of     deep 


Introduction  v 

natural  instinct,  so  that  when  in  1895,  at 
the  request  of  the  Committee  of  the  Women's 
Exhibition  in  Copenhagen,  she  first  entered 
the  field  in  which  she  was  to  become  so 
famous,  by  delivering  a  lecture  on  the  "Mis- 
used Forces  of  Womanhood, "  her  ideas  seemed 
to  herself  so  much  matter  of  course,  mere 
commonplace  truths  which  all  developed 
women  must  hold,  that  she  experienced  some 
difficulty  in  giving  expression  to  them.  It 
was  not  until  protests  and  even  attacks 
followed  the  delivery  and  publication  of  this 
lecture  that  she  realised  that  here  was  her 
mission  and  that  the  world  had  need  of  her 
message. 

To-day,  Ellen  Key  stands  at  that  point  in 
the  Woman  Movement  where  growth  is  most 
vital  and  the  conflict  of  opinions  most  acute. 
It  is  quite  easy  to  display  resentment  towards 
Ellen  Key,  and  to  cast  ridicule  on  her  work; 
the  one  and  the  other  have  been  done  even 
by  people  who  have  themselves  played  a 
highly  honourable  part  in  the  Woman 
Movement.  But  there  can  be  no  denying 
that  Ellen  Key  is  intensely  alive,  acutely  sen- 
sitive to  all  the  best  influences  of  her  time, 
and  throughout,  in  her  weakness  and  in  her 
strength,   a  thorough  and  essential  woman. 


vi  Introduction 

Her  receptive  intelligence  has  enabled  her 
woman's  intuition  to  grasp  the  nature  of  the 
problem  with  which  Feminism  has  to  grapple. 
Here,  at  the  spot  where  she  stands,  the  nature 
and  direction  of  the  Woman's  Movement  of 
the  future  must  be  determined.  That  alone 
suffices  to  make  the  study  of  her  work  in- 
dispensable. 

No  doubt,  Ellen  Key's  attitude  must  be 
at  first  disconcerting,  and  not  to  one  party 
only  in  this  question  but  also  to  the  other. 
There,  on  the  one  hand,  has  been  the  party 
which  insistently  declared:  Woman  is  the 
Mother,  and  the  Home  is  her  sphere;  by 
going  outside  her  sphere,  by  competing 
with  men,  and  by  seeking  to  do  everything 
that  is  done  by  man,  she  becomes  unfit  for 
the  work  that  she  alone  can  do;  she  degrades 
herself  and  injures  the  race.  There,  on  the 
other  hand,  is  the  party  which,  with  equal  or 
greater  insistence,  declares:  Woman  is  a 
Human  Being;  Justice  demands  that  she 
shall  possess  the  same  rights  and  privileges 
as  Man  and  be  free  to  lead  the  same  life  as 
Man.  And  between  those  two  parties  here 
comes  Ellen  Key  with  her  declaration:  Yes, 
Woman  is  the  Mother,  the  future  of  the  race 
is  in  her  hands,   and   woman   is   a  Human 


Introduction  vii 

Being;  it  is  because  she  is  both  that  she  needs 
complete  freedom  for  development  and  the 
power  to  exercise  all  human  rights,  not  in 
order  to  imitate  man,  or  to  do  any  work 
which  he  may  be  better  fitted  to  do,  but  to 
enable  her  to  do  her  own  work,  to  follow  her 
own  natural  impulses,  and  to  exercise  that 
function  of  Motherhood,  in  the  wider  sense  of 
the  word,  which  is  not  surpassed  in  import- 
ance by  any  other  in  the  world. 

Certainly,  such  a  declaration  could  not 
fail  to  be  disconcerting  to  each  party.  Indeed 
it  tore  away  the  blinkers  from  the  eyes  of 
both  the  two  contending  parties.  Their  op- 
posing affirmations  were  united,  and  their 
opposing  negations  were  dissolved  in  trans- 
parent futility.  The  whole  question  was 
lifted  on  to  a  higher  plane.  The  new  demands 
which  every  age  must  necessarily  make  were 
upheld,  not  at  the  expense  of  the  ancient 
and  precious  traditions  of  the  race,  but  by 
showing  that  they  w^ere  necessary  in  order  to 
maintain  those  traditions.  Surely  no  mean 
achievement ! 


rTcu^<Xc  c/*— /^  X 


PREFACE 

pOR  a  great  many  years,  the  name  of  Ellen 
■■•  Key  has  been  a  subject  of  discussion,  not 
only  in  the  public  press,  but  also  within 
family  circles.  Friends  have  become  enemies 
for  the  sake  of  that  name.  Why?  Because 
Ellen  Key  has  fearlessly  placed  a  number  of 
problems  in  clear  light.  Discussions  have 
been  raised  about  well-nigh  all  important 
human  relationships  as  a  consequence  of 
something  she  has  said  on  this  or  that  occasion, 
speaking  never  at  random,  but  as  a  result  of 
slow  and  quiet  observations  which  have  led  her  to 
her  own  clear  solutions.  She  did  not  want  to 
contribute  to  the  prolongation  of  the  concealed 
enmity  between  different  classes  of  society, 
contending  opinions,  representatives  of  the 
New  and  the  Old.  She  wished  rather  to  pro- 
mote frankness  and  truth.  She  wanted  to 
clear  the  air  of  the  noxious  mists  of  hypocrisy 
and  pretence.  She  forced  the  battle  into  the 
open,  and  the  conflict  has  become  so  violent 
that  some  have  not  taken  time  to  think,  but 


X  Preface 

frequently  have  struck  wildly,  and  in  order 
to  end  quickly  this  battle,  caused  by  the 
opinions  she  has  expressed,  her  opponents 
have  not  hesitated  to  attack  her  character. 

I  have  waited  long  in  the  hope  that  some 
other  would  write  of  her  life  and  character, 
but  as  none  has  appeared,  I  have  decided,  in 
spite  of  grave  doubts,  to  make  public  such 
facts  and  memoranda  as  I  have  gathered  from 
those  closely  associated  with  her,  and  have 
received,  on  request,  from  herself — concerning 
origin  and  outward  circumstances, — as  well 
as  my  own  observations  during  our  many 
years  of  friendship. 

"Ellen  Key  holds  a  place  in  our  literature, 
the  importance  of  which  ought  to  be  clear  to 
all,  undoubted  and  respected.  We  have  never 
had  many  intellectually  receptive  as  well  as 
productive  authors,  who  were  able  to  receive 
the  multitudinous  currents  of  ideas,  transfuse 
them  with  their  own  thoughts,  colour  them 
with  their  own  personality,  and,  thus  trans- 
formed, return  them  to  their  various  and 
diffuse  sources.  Our  culture,  which  stands 
high  in  many  respects,  has  never  possessed  a 
corresponding  power  of  unifying  life.  Es- 
pecially in  the  social  field  we  have  weakly 
submitted   to   the   cleavage   between  theory 


Preface  xi 

and  practice,  and  have  been  prone  to  avoid 
discussions,  not  in  order  to  have  peace  for 
better  thinking  but  rather  to  let  our  thoughts 
alone.  Abroad  it  has  been  otherwise;  but 
our  nation  has  lacked  minds  ready  to  listen 
to  voices  from  afar.  Ellen  Key  is  the  great 
exception.  Within  her  range  of  interests  she 
stands  out  before  wide  circles  of  serious  and 
highly  cultured  people  throughout  Europe  as 
a  very  remarkable  personality."  ^ 

The  truth  of  this  statement  I  have  myself 
had  occasion  to  observe  during  travels  abroad. 
The  desire  to  hear  about  Ellen  Key  frequently 
causes  the  foreigner  to  seek  the  acquaintance 
of  the  Swedish  tourist. 

The  foreign  press  bears  continuous  evidence 
of  the  unusual  attention  everywhere  produced 
by  Ellen  Key.  In  an  article,  published  in 
Der  Tag  the  13th  March,  1904,  on  Swedish 
literature,  Ellen  Key  is  spoken  of  as  one  of  the 
four  Swedish  authors  best  known  in  Germany, 
whose  name  has  made  our  country  famous  in 
these  times. 

That  this  assertion  is  no  exaggeration  is 
made  clear  by  the  fact  that  The  Century 
of  the  Child — a  book  which   in   Sweden   has 

'  With  the  above  quotation,  Per  Hallstrom,  a  Swedish  critic 
and  essayist,  begins  his  review  of  Life-lines,  i. 


Xll 


Preface 


barely  been  reviewed — in  Germany  has  been 
issued  in  eight  editions  and  is  translated  into 
Danish,  Dutch,  Polish,  Hungarian,  Russian, 
English,  and  French;  Life-lines,  i.,  has  come 
out  in  six  editions  in  Germany  and  is  being 
translated  into  a  number  of  other  languages; 
Tankebilder  (Images  of  Thought)  has  also 
been  published  in  many  editions,  and  in 
several  languages;  from  many  foreign  lands 
inquiries  have  been  made  with  reference  to 
future  lectures ;  not  to  mention  the  sympathy 
expressed  in  letters  from  all  parts  of  the  world. 

The  enormous  amount  of  matter  in  the 
shape  of  articles  about  Ellen  Key,  which  has 
accumulated,  often  unread,  but  now  placed 
at  my  disposal,  proves  how  actively  she  has 
occupied  people's  minds  for  many  years.  But 
while  in  Sweden  the  misunderstanding  and 
disapproval  outweigh  the  admiration  and 
approbation,  the  reverse  is  true  abroad. 

Ellen  Key  has  never  made  any  effort  to 
procure  translations,  reviews,  or  notices,  and 
for  that  reason  the  above  mentioned  facts 
are  very  significant,  and  go  far  toward  proving 
the  old  saying  that  no  one  is  prophet  in  his 
own  land.  It  would  not  be  surprising  if  a 
biography  of  Ellen  Key  were  considered  un- 
necessary in  Sweden — inGermany  it  is  much 


Preface  xiii 

desired — but  although  conscious  of  such  a 
possibiHty  I  have  decided  to  publish  it  in 
Swedish  for  two  reasons :  first,  because  I  desire 
to  give  it  as  a  preparatory  study  for  future 
biographers;  and  secondly  because  I  have  so 
long  and  so  indignantly  listened  to  the  per- 
sonal slander  by  which  flippancy  and  malice 
have,  to  a  certain  extent,  limited  the  influence 
of  Ellen  Key's  words.  This  book  has  become 
a  matter  of  conscience  with  me. 

In  the  following  pages  I  have  tried  to  give  a 
true  picture  of  the  woman,  Ellen  Key,  not  a 
study  of  her  literary  works.  The  latter  are 
only  mentioned  in  so  far  as  they  have  seemed 
to  me  to  throw  light  upon  her  character. 

Louise  Nystrom-Hamilton. 

Stockholm,  October,  1904. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PACE 

I. — Ancestry    ......         i 

II. — Childhood  and  Early  Youth     .         ,       13 

III. — Youth    and    the     First     Years     in 

Stockholm     .         .         .         .         .38 

IV. — Removal  of  the  Family  to  Stockholm      50 

V. — Work  ......       64 

VI. — Public  Activity  .         .         .         .81 

VII. — The  Last  Years  in  Stockholm  .     138 

Supplement         .         .         .         .         .158 

Appendix — Quotations  from  Press 
Utterances  about  Ellen  Key  on 
her  Sixtieth  Birthday         .         .179 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Ellen  Key  ....     Frontispiece 

From  a  photograph  by  Becker  &  Maass,  Berlin. 

Emil  Key,  1873.     Father  of  Ellen  Key     .        6 

Photograph  by  Eurenius  &  Quist. 

Sophie  Key,  1874.     Mother  of  Ellen   Key        6 

Photograph  by  Eurenius  &  Quist. 

The  Birthplace  of  Ellen  Key.     Sundsholm       14 
Ellen  Key,  1856  .....       30 

From  a  silhouette. 

Ellen  Key,  Aged  15  .         ,         .         .         .30 
Ellen  Key  in  1885      .....       70 

From  a  photograph  by  A.  Apelgren,  Stockholm. 

Ellen  Key  .         .         .         ,         .         .     152 

From  a   photograph    by   permission   of    Slenders 
Forlag,  Copenhagen. 

Strand.     The  Home  of  Ellen  Key     .         ,     166 

Ellen  Kjey,  191  i  .         .         .         .         .174 

From  a  photograph  taken  at  her  home,  Strand. 


ELLEN  KEY 


CHAPTER  I 


ANCESTRY 


THE  significance  to  the  individual  of  his 
descent  is  one  of  the  many  riddles  left 
for  future  generations  to  solve.  Conjectiu'es 
and  probabilities  alone  form  the  basis  for  the 
hypothesis  that  our  various  qualities  are 
coupled  to  the  cells  that  link  the  generations 
together,  and  yet  it  is  peculiarly  interesting 
to  review  a  family-tree,  however  briefly, 
where  distinct  characteristics,  marked  in  mem- 
bers of  both  main  branches,  are  found  again 
in  the  descendant. 

Ellen  Key  represents  the  latest  branch  of  a 
family-tree  which  bears  names  among  the 
foremost  in  history,  and  which  has  drawn  its 
life  from  the  blood  of  many  different  nations. 

The  Key  family  is  of  Scotch-Celtic  lineage. 
Day-dreams,  art,  and  poetry  are  native  to  the 


2  Ellen  Key 

Celtic  blood.  The  Scotch  have  always  shown 
themselves  brave  and  proud,  devoted  and 
true,  and  spiritually  alive;  but  also  fanatical 
and  hard. 

Per  Hallstrom  speaking  of  the  Scotch  says: 
"This  peculiarly  composite  and  strongly  in- 
dividualised nation  with  its  Celtic  emotional- 
ism, Anglo-Saxon  power  and  passion,  Norse 
disposition,  and  Puritanic  Bible -faith  ...  It 
has  been  said  of  the  Scotch  temperament 
that  it  carries  more  sail  than  the  English,  and 
at  the  same  time  ploughs  deeper  into  the 
waters." 

The  M'Kay'  clan  is  still  one  of  the  most  act- 
ive and  united  clans  in  Sutherland,  the  meagre 
northern  part  of  Scotland.  The  meaning  of 
the  name  MacKay  is  best  interpreted  by 
"war-flame, "  or  "fiery"  and  "warlike. "  The 
coat-of-arms  shows  a  firmly  closed  fist  holding 
a  dagger.  Under  it  are  the  words :  Mmiu 
Forti. 

After  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  many  foreign 
families,  whose  male  descendants  had  served 
under  Gustavus  (Adolphus)  II,  came  to  Swe- 
den and  settled  there.  Among  these  we  find 
James    M'Key,  who,   during   this   war,    was 

*  This  is  the  usual  spelling  though  it  varies  between  Kay,  Cay, 
and  Key. 


Ancestry  3 

appointed  lieutenant-colonel.  In  the  histori- 
cal sketch  entitled  An  Old  Scotch  Brigade, 
the  M'Key  regiment  is  depicted  as  having 
fought  with  great  distinction  under  the  Swe- 
dish banner. 

Fredrik  Key,  great-grandson  of  James 
M'Key,  district  judge,  and,  like  his  fore- 
father, owner  of  an  estate  in  Smaland,  married 
the  widow  of  Captain  J.  A.  Nordenflycht, 
the  nephew  of  the  poet  Hedvig  Charlotta 
Nordenflycht,  himself  similarly  gifted.  Ellen 
Key  has  jokingly  said  that  "this  case  seems 
to  verify  the  assertion  that  a  widow's  children 
by  a  later  marriage  may  resemble  the  former 
husband,  since  first  in  C.  F.  Key,  my  great- 
grandfather, son  of  this  couple,  did  the  strong 
cesthetic  and  literary  interest  show  itself  in 
our  branch  of  the  famity. "  But  this  interest 
may  also  have  come  from  another  source. 
For  the  widow  Nordenflycht,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Louisa  Elertz  (she  was  German  and 
came  from  Stralsund),  was  herself  a  talented 
woman. 

With  no  knowledge  of  any  connection  in  the 
sense  above  alluded  to,  Oscar  Levertin,  in  his 
brilliant  essay  on  Hedvig  Charlotta  Norden- 
flycht (17 1 8-1 763),  Sweden's  first  woman 
poet,   has    given    Ellen    Key    an    important 


4  Ellen  Key 

place  as  an  author  "in  direct  descending 
(intellectual)  line  from  her."  The  above 
mentioned  hypothesis  may  not  be  altogether 
unreasonable,  at  least  in  cases  where  the 
memory  of  the  departed  husband  is  kept 
alive  in  the  heart  of  the  bereft  wife,  even 
though  she  contracts  a  new  marriage  for  some 
reason  or  other.  Be  this  as  it  may,  Oscar 
Levertin  has  rightly  observed  the  similarity 
between  these  two  writers,  which  shows  it- 
self in  many  ways.  In  the  essay  just  referred 
to  he  says:  "  Fru  N.  is  the  portal -figure  of  the 
new  age  in  our  literary  history.  .  .  .  She  is 
gripped  by  a  revolution  of  both  heart  and 
mind.  .  .  .  She  had  such  an  exalted  opinion 
of  her  literary  profession  that  she  even  dared 
to  strike  for  the  spiritual  freedom  of  her 
fellow- women  and  their  equality  with  man, 
as  the  first  great  woman's  rights*  champion  in 
the  country.  .  .  .  She  had  an  amazon's  fear- 
less courage  and  holy  love  of  battle.  Un- 
afraid, with  an  honesty  which  knew  of  no 
reserve,  she  fought  for  her  opinions  all  her 
life.  ..." 

These  characterisations  would  fit  Ellen  Key 
with  slight  paraphrase,  unnecessary  for  those 
who  peruse  this  biography.  In  their  private 
lives,  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  no  further 


Ancestry  5 

similarity  except  that  Hedvig  Charlotta  Nor- 
denflycht  also  "escaped  school  altogether," 
and  that  in  her  childhood  she  showed 
the  best  traits  of  her  nature, — "  burning 
desire  for  knowledge,  tenacity  in  her  struggle 
for  clearness,  and  courage  in  defending  her 
convictions." 

Fredrik  Key's  only  son,  Carl  Fredrik  Key, 
member  of  the  King's  bodyguard,  and  estate- 
owner,  married  to  Beate  Marie  Sundevall, 
was,  as  we  have  said,  a  literary  and  artistic- 
ally gifted  man,  who  collected  an  excellent 
library  containing  the  best  literature  of  the 
time.  He  was  an  enthusiastic  admirer  of 
Rousseau,  and  gave  the  name  of  Emil  to  his 
son.  This  Emil  Key  (bom  1799),  lieutenant 
in  the  Smaland  regiment  of  hussars,  and 
country  estate-owner,  was  also  interested  in 
art  and  literature  and  was  himself  an  amateur 
artist.  He  married  his  cousin  Caroline  Fleet- 
wood, of  the  Swedish  branch  of  that  old 
English  family,  whose  most  noted  member  was 
Cromwell's  companion-in-arms,  and  later,  son- 
in-law.'  This  couple  had  two  children,  a  son 
Emil   (Ellen  Key's  father),   and  a  daughter 

*  Charles  Fleetwood,  Lord  Deputy  of  Ireland  during  the  Com- 
monwealth, married  to  Bridget,  Oliver  Cromwell's  eldest  daughter. 
— Translator's  footnote. 


6  Ellen  Key 

Marie  Louise,  married  to  Baron  Cari  Raab  of 
Helgerum. 

Through  Ellen  Key's  mother,  Sophie  Posse, 
royal  and  old  aristocratic  blood  was  fused  into 
the  family.  German  emperors  are  among 
the  ancestors, — Karl  the  Great,  Fredrik  the 
Second  Hohenstauen,  and  many  other  princes, 
if  the  table  of  genealogy  can  be  trusted. 

Ellen  Key's  forefathers  have  been  squires 
and  statesmen,  judges  and  warriors.  None 
of  them  has  been  a  clergyman. 

Another  circumstance  connected  with  her 
origin  is  noteworthy.  Ellen  Key  has  grown 
up  in  Southern  Tjust,  one  of  the  most  beauti- 
ful parts  of  Smaland,  where  her  paternal 
family  had  lived  for  centuries.  Her  mother's 
family  came  from  Skane.  And  although  her 
ancestors  had  all  belonged  to  the  aristocracy, 
and  had  enriched  their  stock  by  intermarriage 
with  families  outside  of  their  own  province, 
it  is  more  than  likely  that  the  characteristics 
of  the  national  disposition  in  these  two  south- 
ern provinces  have  exercised  a  certain  influence. 
May  not  the  indomitable  will  and  strength 
in  Ellen  Key  be  due  in  part  to  her  Smaland 
origin,  and  may  not  her  desire  for  contempla- 
tion, her  tranquillity  and  introspection,  come 
from  Skane? 


Ancestry  7 

C.  F.  E.  Emil  Key  was  born  1822  at  Eds- 
manor  in  Smaland.  His  parents  married 
early,  were  devoted  and  happy,  but  the 
father  died  very  suddenly  when  the  son  was 
but  two  years  old.  The  mother  was  rarely 
beautiful.  None  who  had  seen  her  could 
forget  her.  She  contracted  a  second  marriage 
with  Baron  Adam  Christian  Raab,  renowned 
for  his  participation  in  political  life.  He  had 
seen  her  once  while  she  was  still  married  and 
had  said  to  himself  at  the  time:  "She,  or 
none. "  A  year  later  she  was  a  widow,  and  in 
her  loneliness,  and  with  her  two  young 
children  to  bring  up,  she  finally  yielded  to  his 
ardent  suit. 

Emil  Key  was  brought  up  on  his  step  father's 
country-seat,  Ryssbylund,  near  Bjorno,  the 
childhood  home  of  Sophie  Posse.  When  his 
education  was  completed,  he  entered  the  civil 
service,  which  he  left  after  five  years.  His 
inheritance  from  his  father  afforded  him  ample 
means  for  travels  abroad,  and  these  journeys 
he  later  described  in  a  narrative  which  was  one 
of  the  books  often  read  by  his  daughter  Ellen, 
awakening  in  her  a  longing  for  the  wonders  of 
the  great  world. 

Emil  Key  was  in  every  respect  a  liberal- 
minded   man.     His   ideal    of    a   citizen   was 


8  Ellen  Key 

George  Washington,  whose  name  he  gave  one 
of  his  sons.  He  expressed  his  Hberal  ideas 
in  the  then  radical  Aftonposten,  to  which  he  was 
an  occasional  contributor,  in  the  latter  part  of 
the  year  1840.  During  his  years  of  civil 
service  in  Stockholm,  he  enjoyed  the  society  of 
men  of  letters,  and  his  taste  for  art  and  litera- 
ture became  further  developed.  In  1848  he 
bought  Sundsholm,  and  later  enlarged  this 
country-estate  by  considerable  purchases  of 
adjoining  land.  In  the  many  communal 
tasks  entrusted  to  him  he  found  a  suitable 
field  of  activity  for  his  energy.  The  confi- 
dence he  thereby  inspired  showed  itself  when 
he,  at  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the  new 
constitution,  obtained  a  seat  in  the  Second 
Chamber,  as  representative  for  Tjust  County, 
a  place  which  he  kept  until  the  Riksdag  of 
1883.  He  had  for  some  time  thought  that  a 
new  Agrarian  party  was  necessary  for  the 
solution  of  the  important  problems  of  land- 
taxation,  measures  of  defence,  etc.  At  the 
first  Riksdag  of  the  new  Government,  this 
party  was  formed  by  Emil  Key,  Arvid  Posse, 
a  few  other  noblemen,  and  several  promi- 
nent farmers.  Through  Key's  influence  the 
party  was  led  to  take  up  wider  social  ques- 
tions.    He  was  a  good  speaker  and  a  truly 


Ancestry  9 

unprejudiced  champion  of  the  questions  of 
the  day. 

Emil  Key  was  one  of  the  trusted  leaders  of 
his  party,  and  was  a  permanent  member  of  the 
standing  Financial  Committee  of  the  Riksdag. 
Among  other  things,  he  introduced  a  bill  for 
a  new  army  organisation,  and  defended  his 
views  in  print  and  speech  with  great  bril- 
liancy. But  although  the  Second  Chamber 
concurred  in  his  main  contentions  which,  more- 
over, were  incorporated  in  a  Government 
proposal,  the  bill  failed  when  it  came  to  a 
vote.  Defeated  in  this,  one  of  his  most 
cherished  political  plans,  Key  found  the  time 
ripe  for  withdrawing  from  public  life,  where 
he  had  directly  and  indirectly  lost  so  much. 
It  was  a  great  blow  for  Key,  who,  for  eigh- 
teen years,  had  fought  for  what  he  consid- 
ered a  question  of  vital  import  to  his  country. 
Having  used  his  money  lavishly  in  political 
service,  he  found  himself  obliged  to  accept 
a  position  offered  him  as  postmaster  in  Hel- 
singborg,  and  the  family  left  the  old  home, 
Sundsholm. 

Emil  Key  was  stately  and  handsome  in 
appearance,  and  had  the  attractive  and  affable 
manners  that  became  his  high  culture,  and 
the  credulous  idealism  of  a  poetic  nature  to 


10  Ellen  Key 

which  are  due  many  of  the  disappointments 
which  ruined  his  political  career. 

Sophie  Posse  had  married  Emil  Key,  known 
as  "Scandinavian,"^  contributor  to  Afton- 
bladef,  "Revolutionist"  and  Almkvist^  en- 
thusiast, much  to  her  noble  family's  chagrin. 
But  her  father  had  settled  the  matter  with 
the  simple  words:  "  I  married  for  love  myself, 
and  my  children  shall  do  the  same." 

Sophie  Key,  like  her  husband,  was  broad- 
minded  in  the  best  sense  of  the  word.  Though 
both  were  aristocratic  in  mind  and  manner 
they  held  democratic  opinions.  As  an  example, 
it  may  be  stated  that  Fru  Key  never  allowed 
anyone  to  call  her  Countess,  but  declined  the 
title,  something  quite  unusual  in  those  days. 
Her  views  in  regard  to  most  questions  were 
extremely  modern,  even  if  compared  with  the 
view  of  our  own  times.  In  politics  she  was  a 
Radical.  She  showed  her  interest  in  the 
children  and  young  girls  of  the  parish  by 
founding  a  Home  for  the  rearing  of  unpro- 
tected girls  and  training  them  for  housework. 
Twenty  women  of  the  yeomanry  cooperated 
with  her  in  this  enthusiastic  work. 

'  A  believer  in  the  common  interests  of  the  Scandinavian 
countries  instead  of  a  narrow  patriot. — Translator's  footnote. 

^  Sweden's  most  modern  writer  and  poet. — Translator's 
footnote. 


Ancestry  1 1 

Fru  Key  was  always  willing  to  promote  her 
daughter  Ellen's  general  interests.  At  the 
latter's  request  she  several  times  took  dis- 
charged women-prisoners  into  her  service. 
Her  hatred  for  all  social  injustices  was  deep- 
felt  and  sincere.  Ellen  Key  once  told  of  an 
amusing  situation  in  their  home-life.  Fru 
Key  much  enjoyed  reading  the  fiery  paper, 
Fdderneslandet,  which  came  in  the  mail  to  a 
Republican-minded  neighbour,  who  had  christ- 
ened his  sons  America  and  California!  Hen- 
Key  was  wont  to  make  a  joke  of  the  fact  that 
his  wife's  views  tended  to  coincide  with  those 
of  the  paper.  Ellen  Key  adds:  ''  In  our  days 
my  mother  would  certainly  have  been  an 
anarchist.  I  generally  sided  with  her  against 
my  father,  who  was  more  moderate  and  did 
not  consider  the  murder  of  tyrants  quite  as 
helpful  to  society  as  did  we!"  We  here  get  a 
good  view  of  Ellen  Key's  passion  for  freedom 
and  hatred  of  oppression  as  nourished  by  her 
mother's  radicalism. 

Fru  Sophie  Key  was  one  of  those  rare 
natures  capable  of  boundless  devotion,  and 
she  was  therefore  indispensable  to  her  hus- 
band. Always  delicate,  she  practised  a  re- 
markable self-control,  that  she  might  not  be  a 
burden  to  him.     Never  indulging  herself,  she 


12  Ellen  Key 

did  not  over-indulge  her  children,  who  learned 
from  her  example  to  be  lenient  with  others,  but 
strict  with  themselves.  With  an  upright 
character,  a  simple  and  unpretentious  per- 
sonality, she  combined  a  good  mind  with 
aesthetic  interests. 

Sincere  love  united  the  couple.  Fru  Sophie 
Key  died  in  1 884,  in  the  former  home,  Sunds- 
holm,  whither  she  had  been  brought  in  the 
hope  that  the  change  would  restore  her  health. 
Her  last  words  and  thoughts,  while  in  the 
shadow  of  death,  concerned  her  husband,  and 
her  only  request  was  that  his  letters  should 
accompany  her  to  her  final  resting-place. 

Emil  Key  mourned  the  loss  of  his  wife  so 
greatly  that  it  brought  on  a  hemorrhage  of  the 
brain,  after  which  he  endured  years  of  suffer- 
ing and  sinking  vitality  until  he  died  in  1892. 


CHAPTER   II 

CHILDHOOD  AND  EARLY  YOUTH 

SUNDSHOLM  is  situated  in  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  districts  in  Southern  Sweden. 
The  Lake  Maren  encircles  the  point  of  land  on 
which  Sundsholm's  corps  de  logis  is  located. 
From  this,  a  fine  alley  of  unusually  tall  and 
handsome  pyramid-poplars  leads  across  blos- 
soming meadows.  Near  by,  is  a  natural  park 
of  oak,  birch,  and  evergreen  trees,  which  Emil 
Key's  love  of  beauty  had  created  with  very 
simple  means.  The  landscape  varies  with 
large  meadows,  birch  and  oak,  and,  in  the 
background,  a  great  pine  forest,  now  a  memory 
only.  Through  the  broad  foliage  of  the  aristo- 
lochia,  which  covered  the  front  porch  where 
the  family  usually  gathered,  one  had  a  charm- 
ing view.  At  midsummer,  the  last  rays  of  the 
sun  could  be  seen  through  a  break  in  the  forest. 
From  a  hill  in  the  park,  one  had  a  fine  view  of 
the  whole  Lake  Maren,  with  all  its  coves  and 
points.     From  this  height,  one  also  saw  the 

13 


14  Ellen  Key 

great  forests  of  the  district,  untouched  at 
that  time,  and  a  white  glimmering  point,  the 
lighthouse,  two  miles  distant,  on  the  coast  of 
the  Baltic,  inspiring  in  the  young  a  yearning 
for  the  sea. 

The  interior  of  Sundsholm  was  very  different 
from  ordinary  Swedish  homes  of  that  day. 
The  aesthetic  and  literary  father  had  arranged 
all  with  exquisite  taste.  The  black  Gothic 
silk  furniture  in  the  drawing-room  had  once 
been  in  the  possession  of  the  celebrated  act- 
ress Emilie  Hogquist,  and  the  walls  were  hung 
with  valuable  pictures.  A  precious  collection 
of  engravings,  and  a  large  and  excellent  lib- 
rary were  rich  sources  from  which  the  daughter 
Ellen,  thirsting  for  knowledge,  could  help 
herself.  The  advantages  of  high  culture  were 
here  combined  with  simple  habits  and  hard 
work. 

Besides  her  own  home,  there  were  three 
others  from  which  Ellen  Key  received  impres- 
sions in  childhood  and  youth  that  set  their 
stamp  on  her  character  and  mind.  One  was 
the  stately  old  mansion  Bjorno,  situated  on 
the  Sound,  two  miles  from  Kalmar,  which, 
together  with  several  other  estates,  belonged 
to  Ellen's  maternal  grandfather,  who  had 
renovated   and    built    them   up,    laying   out 


Childhood  and  Early  Youth         15 

many  miles  of  new  roads,  modernizing  every- 
thing, and  changing  the  old  system  of  land 
rentals,  so  hard  on  the  tenants. 

Count  Posse  was  the  largest  landowner  and 
magnate  of  the  county,  a  proud  and  stem  gen- 
tleman, but  yielding  as  wax  towards  his  wife, 
Sophie  Berg  von  Linde,  and  his  first  grand- 
child, Ellen  Key.  The  customs  and  habits  of 
olden  times  reigned  at  Bjorno,  even  as  late 
as  1850.  After  the  early  dinner,  the  family 
would  gather,  about  six  o'clock,  around  the 
tea-table  (as  at  the  beginning  of  the  century), 
which  was  lighted  by  dripping  candles  set  in 
massive  silver  candlesticks. 

In  this  home  the  well -filled  linen  chests 
held  damask  cloths  spun  by  the  Countess  and 
her  daughters,  and  one  of  Ellen's  gifts  from 
her  grandmother  was  a  little  spinning-wheel, 
but  neither  it  nor  the  lace-making  pillow  was 
put  to  use  by  Ellen  Key. 

Both  in  summer  and  winter  the  guests 
were  many,  but  the  supply  in  the  store-room 
never  gave  out.  This  large  room,  of  two 
compartments,  seemed  to  Ellen's  imagination 
a  "Hanseatic  Store."  There  was  ever  an 
odour  of  all  kinds  of  condiments  and  all  sorts 
of  edible  delicacies. 

Count  Posse  loved  to  build,  and  Ellen  de- 


i6  Ellen  Key 

clares  that  she  had  inherited  from  her  grand- 
father her  passion  for  soHd  buildings.  He 
also  made  his  own  drawings  of  substantial  and 
useful  furniture. 

He  did  not  care  for  display,  yet  an  old- 
fashioned  splendour  always  showed  itself,  not 
the  least  in  the  black  four-in-hand  which  was 
always  used  in  driving  the  family  and  their 
guests.  He  worshipped  his  wife,  and  vowed 
at  eighty  that  he  had  never  seen  a  more 
beautiful  woman.  When  he  was  absent  dur- 
ing the  War  of  1813,  his  wife  sent  him  a  heart- 
locket  of  silver,  containing  locks  of  her  own 
and  their  firstborn's  hair.  The  only  arrange- 
ment he  made,  concerning  his  obsequies,  was 
that  this  remembrance  of  the  love  of  his  youth 
should  accompany  him  to  his  grave,  Ellen 
Key  received  her  earliest  historic  impressions 
from  the  many  large  steel  engravings  of  the 
War  of  1 813,  which  hung  on  the  walls  in  her 
grandfather's  room,  and  the  first  historic 
name  she  dreamt  about  was  Napoleon. 

The  grandmother  was  a  tall  and  remarkably 
handsome  woman,  with  a  soul  of  "pure  good- 
ness. "  She  taught  the  four- year-old  Ellen  to 
read  from  large  charts,  after  the  method  of 
the  day.  The  lessons  were  made  so  pleasant, 
through  the  graciousness  of  the  teacher,  that 


Childhood  and  Early  Youth         17 

to  this  day  happy  memories  are  recalled  by  the 
grateful  pupil.  One  of  Ellen  Key's  inefface- 
able impressions  is  of  her  grandmother  giving 
her  a  toy  after  Ellen  had  been  cross  to  her 
without  reason.  The  heart  of  the  five-year- 
old  melted  with  gratitude  and  regret,  and  this 
experience  was  the  foundation  of  Ellen  Key's 
belief  that  children  may  be  won  by  kindness 
rather  than  punishment. 

At  Helgerum,  a  lovely  old  manor  on  a  bay 
of  the  Baltic  Sea,  one  hour's  journey  from 
Sundsholm,  lived  Ellen  Key's  only  paternal 
aunt,  the  spiritual  and  richly  gifted  Baroness 
Marie-Louise  Raab,  nee  Key.  Here  in  the 
magnificent  rotund  music-room,  which  rose 
through  two  stories,  Ellen  Key  would  often 
enjoy  music,  or  listen  to  her  aunt  by  the  fire 
telling  of  old  times  and  people,  a  reminiscence 
which  she  relates  in  her  Beauty  for  All.  In 
the  drawing-room  with  the  painted  hangings 
she  would  dream  of  herself  sharing  in  the 
dramatic  scenes  of  Racine's  Esther,  pictures 
that  were  the  delight  of  her  early  years. 

In  the  near  neighbourhood  of  Sundsholm, 
and  belonging  to  it,  was  Kallernas.  The 
simple,  old-fashioned,  red-painted  house,  which 
was  reached  by  rowing  across  a  little  sound, 
and  walking  through  the  loveliest  birch-grown 


i8  Ellen  Key 

point,  was  tenanted  by  Captain  Mans  Hultin, 
his  wife  and  children.  The  youngest  daughter, 
Lisa,  was  bom  the  same  year  as  Ellen,  and  the 
two  girls  have  been  friends  from  infancy. 

At  Bjorno,  Ellen  learned  to  reverence  the 
good  old  things  and  customs  in  an  aristocratic 
and  patriarchal  home,  a  reverence  which  is 
often  expressed  in  her  writings.  These  in- 
fluences of  olden  times  were  strengthened  at 
Kallemas.  The  lasting  impressions  Ellen  Key 
received  from  this  home  are  countless.  She 
has  written  of  Fru  Hultin  with  grateful  ap- 
preciation. The  rare  old-fashioned  atmos- 
phere has  never  faded  from  Ellen's  memory 
and,  especially  the  fairy-tales  and  harpsichord 
music  of  Fru  Hultin,  did  much  to  nourish 
the  child's  imagination. 

The  old  couple  lived  to  celebrate  their 
diamond  wedding,  dying  in  1883,  the  same 
year  that  the  Key  family  left  Sundsholm. 
Ellen  Key  ends  her  biographical  sketch  of  Fru 
Hultin  with  these  words:  "In  this  existence 
of  oiu-s,  where  our  life  experiences  are  for 
the  most  part  made  up  of  yearnings  and  dis- 
appointments, it  is  only  for  those  who  have 
never  disappointed  our  trust  that  we  always 
yearn.  These  personalities,  who  stand  out  in 
unsullied   purity   against   the   golden    back- 


Childhood  and  Early  Youth         19 

ground  of  our  memories,  are  our  true  bene- 
factors." 

Now  that  we  have  become  acquainted  with 
the  environment  in  which  Ellen  Key  was  born 
and  grew  up,  it  remains  for  us  to  follow  her 
through  her  simple  and  uneventful  life — as  far 
as  external  happenings  go — ^to  try  to  find  and 
comprehend  her  personality,  as  it  shows  itself 
in  her  work  and  in  her  writings,  and  to  re- 
cognise inherited  as  well  as  acquired  traits, 
influences  of  education,  environment,  and  cir- 
cumstances. 

"I  was  born  at  Sundsholm,  the  eleventh 
of  December,  1849,  the  first  child  of  young  and 
happy  parents. "  With  these,  her  own  words, 
Ellen  Key  lets  us  know  she  is  a  "love-child" 
in  the  most  beautiful  meaning  of  the  word. 
The  significance  which  she  attaches  to  this 
fact,  upheld  in  her  view  for  that  matter  by 
well-known  scientific  authorities,  is  expressed 
in  her  Century  of  the  Child,  and  doubtless  her 
warm  life-faith  is  due  in  some  degree  to  the 
happy  circumstance  of  her  birth. 

The  first  story  I  ever  heard  of  Ellen  Key 
was  that  as  a  tiny  little  girl  she  defended  her 
one-year-younger  sister  who  was  being  scolded 
because  she  lay  crying  in  her  crib.  Prompted 
by  the  same  motherliness,  which  later  brought 


20  Ellen  Key 

her  into  bitter  conflict  with  so  many  bigoted 
opponents,  little  Ellen  put  herself  protectively 
in  front  of  the  baby,  saying:  "She  is  so  little, 
she  tan't  help  it." 

In  the  preface  to  her  recently  published 
book  Lifslinier,  she  relates  her  own  earliest 
remembrance  "of  the  first  time  she  felt  con- 
scious of  the  joy  of  living."  She  had  been 
entrusted  with  the  care  of  the  little  sister 
who  was  unable  alone  to  climb  the  hill  near  the 
home,  and  it  made  her  serenely  happy  to  feel 
the  little  hand  in  hers  and  the  sun  shining 
on  them  both. 

Ellen's  fifth  year  was  spent  wholly  at  Bjorno. 
Even  at  this  early  age  she  loved  books.  And, 
when  the  older  people  read  aloud  the  then 
newly  translated  English  novels,  The  Lamp- 
lighter, Jane  Eyre,  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin, 
etc.,  Ellen  would  creep  under  the  table  and 
listen  while  they  thought  she  was  playing. 
She  always  amused  herself,  and  did  not  need 
com.panions  to  have  a  good  time.  Her  play 
with  dolls  was  not  like  other  daughters  of  Eve 
who  prefer  them  stylishly  attired,  and  thus 
prepare  themselves  to  become  dolls  of  fashion. 
No,  Ellen  wanted  a  real  baby.  A  pin-cushion 
served  as  a  head,  and  heavy  towels  were  twisted 
to  form   the  body.     Ellen's  doll   should   be 


Childhood  and  Early  Youth        21 

heavy  and  cause  her  sweet  toil  to  carry  about ! 
She  took  even  her  doll-play  seriously,  a  play 
which  soon  ended,  as  she  came  to  have  five 
younger  sisters  and  brothers  who  were  better 
to  pet  and  care  for  than  the  dolls.  In  a  photo- 
graph of  her  at  the  age  of  six,  this  disposition 
can  be  recognised.  A  dear  little  one,  but 
already  then  a  thoughtful  "little  mother." 

Ellen  Key  never  became  tiresome  in  her 
seriousness,  she  had  too  much  humour  and 
roguishness  for  that,  which  showed  itself 
early  in  her  ready  wit  and  funny  sayings. 
When  she  was  only  four  years  old,  her  grand- 
father, who  loved  horses,  put  her  on  a  pony. 
^AThen  the  pony  threw  her,  she  kept  her  counte- 
nance, explaining  the  incident  thus:  ''Myg- 
gan  (as  the  pony  was  called)  took  down  her 
will  from  the  damper,"'  that  being  the  place 
where,  according  to  prevalent  custom,  she 
had  been  told  that  her  own  will  sat. 

Like  other  country-bred  children  Ellen  drove 
and  rode  horseback,  swam  and  rowed,  and 
often,  when  the  stars  mirrored  themselves  in 

'  Swedish  children  are  generally  told  that  they  have  no  will  of 
their  own  while  they  are  young:  they  must  simply  obey  their 
elders.  They  are  told  that  their  will  is  growing  on  the  top  of  some 
tree  in  the  forest,  or  living  in  the  damper,  which,  on  the  customary 
fireplace  is  very  high  near  the  ceiling  and  is  regulated  only  by  the 
elders  of  the  household. — Translator's  footnote. 


22  Ellen  Key 

the  clear  ice,  or,  better  still,  when  the  moon 
shone,  she  would  glide  away  on  skates  at  a 
merry  pace.  But  stor3rtelling  and  books 
came  first  among  her  earliest  pleasure. 

Ellen  Key  considers  one  of  the  fortunate 
assets  of  her  childhood  the  nurse  with  her 
inexhaustible  store  of  folk-tales,  which  she 
would  delightfully  recount  to  the  children 
gathered  before  the  fire.  When  Ellen  was 
eight  years  old  she  would  get  out  of  bed,  and 
listen  at  the  door  to  her  parents  reading 
Rydberg's  Last  Athenian,  and  afterwards  she 
acted  the  story  with  her  paper  dolls.  At 
this  age,  Runeberg  also  became  dear  to  her. 
She  knew  his  Fdnrik  Stal  almost  by  heart 
and  had  soon  read  everything  he  had  so  far 
written.  She  listened  eagerly  to  her  old 
friend,  Captain  Hultin's  recital  of  his  hunt- 
ing and  fishing  trips  with  Runeberg  during 
a  visit  to  Finland,  and  her  first  experience  of 
grief  came  at  the  tidings  of  Runeberg 's  death. 
She  passed  the  day  in  tears,  and  shortly  after- 
wards she  began  to  hold  weekly  "Runeberg- 
Evenings, "  in  which  she  gathered  her  sisters 
and  brothers  for  reading.  It  is  characteristic 
of  Ellen  Key  that,  at  ten  years  of  age,  she 
greatly  enjoyed  epic  poems  such  as  Runeberg's 
Algskyttarne  and  Goethe's  Hermann  und  Doro- 


Childhood  and  Early  Youth        23 

thea.  We  have  it  from  her  own  lips  that  when 
she  read  this  poem  for  the  second  time  at 
sixteen,  kneeling  by  the  window  to  catch  the 
last  light  of  the  day,  as  it  grew  too  dark, 
without  moving  from  the  spot  she  reached  for 
the  candle,  and,  lighting  it,  kept  on  reading  on 
her  knees,  finishing  without  interruption  the 
whole  poem,  which  expressed,  as  it  were,  her 
own  early  love  of  the  wholesome,  harmonious 
life.  Her  first  thought  of  love  had  been 
awakened  through  her  reading  of  Tegner's 
Axel  och  Maria  which  she  carried  in  her  pocket 
all  winter,  and  learned  by  heart  at  the  age  of 
seven.  But  her  own  dream  of  Love  was  quite 
idyllic.  Her  own  home  should  be  a  country 
estate  where  everything  would  be  arranged  as 
perfectly  as  possible,  from  cellar  to  attic, 
and  all  the  tenants  happy  with  their  own 
pretty  cottages  and  gardens.  And  she  would 
have  two  boys  and  two  girls,  both  wondrously 
beautiful,  and  brought  up  only  in  love!  On 
the  brown  wall-paper  by  her  bed  she  had 
sketched  the  contours  of  her  kingdom,  a  little 
"Utopia"  in  which  she  fancied  herself  riding 
about  in  a  white  dress  on  a  white  pony, — 
symbols  of  the  peace  that  would  reign, — to 
lighten  taxes,  found  schools,  promote  indus- 
tries, make  all  officials  just,  and  all  soldiers 


24  Ellen  Key 

gentle !  Little  Ellen  learned  through  her  his- 
toric readings  to  dream  of  the  ideals  which 
early  became  the  objects  of  her  desires. 

A  realised  harmony  of  life — this  was  what 
she  unconsciously  enjoyed  in  the  epic  poems 
mentioned.  This  harmony  had  already  filled 
her  imagination  in  childhood,  and  all  her  books 
deal  more  or  less  with  this  dream,  which  she 
still — a  child  with  whitening  locks — dreams 
for  others  with  the  same  tender  eagerness. 

At  other  times,  her  love  of  adventure  wotild 
crop  out,  and  then  there  would  be  Indian 
games  under  Ellen's  direction,  adventures  of 
Robinson  Crusoe,  etc.  Historic  scenes  would 
be  played,  such  as  the  Departure  of  the  People 
of  Israel  from  Egypt,  the  Sacrifice  of  the 
Easter-Lamb,  the  Citizens  of  Calais,  parts  of 
the  life  of  Gustavus  Vasa,  and  others.  She 
had  come  across  Socrates  in  her  books  of 
history!  From  him,  who  became  her  ideal 
when  she  was  eight  or  ten  years  old,  she  learned 
that  the  fewer  his  wants  the  nearer  man 
grows  to  the  gods.  And  so  this  little  person- 
ality had  within  herself  a  principle  which 
justified  the  parental  commands  she  must 
obey,  since  the  simple  upbringing  which,  to  the 
democratic  tendencies  of  the  parents,  seemed 
best  for  the  children,  accorded  with  her  own 


Childhood  and  Early  Youth         25 

stoic  ideals!  Not  satisfied,  she  put  additional 
rules  for  herself  and  carried  simplified  living 
farther  even  than  her  parents  required.  She 
was  so  hardened  that  she  was  hard  in  her 
youth,  and  it  is  with  effort  she  has  learned  to 
have  an  easy  conscience  in  regard  to  the  en- 
joyment of  the  good  things  of  life. 

Ellen  Key  was  brought  up  in  extreme 
simplicity.  Until  she  was  twelve  years  old 
she  ate  her  breakfast  and  suppers  standing 
with  her  si.sters  and  brothers  at  a  table 
where  only  bread  and  milk  was  served.  No 
waiting  on  the  children  was  allowed.  The 
servants  had  been  told  that  if  the  chil- 
dren gave  orders,  they  should  be  led  out  of 
the  kitchen  with  the  dishrag  around  their 
necks.  Ellen  herself  tells  us  that  she  was 
sixteen  years  old  before  she  opened  her  lips 
at  table  without  being  spoken  to.  Com- 
plaints were  considered  squeamish,  and  no 
phrase  was  heard  oftener  than:  "He  who 
enters  the  game  must  endure  the  play,"  and 
that  teaching,  Ellen  Key  says,  laid  the  foun- 
dation for  the  endurance  with  which  she  has 
been  able  to  meet  the  pain  and  attacks  she 
has  suffered.  Besides  the  desire  to  create 
happiness,  which  is  one  of  the  fundamental 
traits  of  her  character — and  in  her   youthful 


26  Ellen  Key 

fancy  took  the  form  of  a  little  Utopia — we  find 
a  growing  individualism  discernible  already 
in  childhood  and  expressing  itself  in  a  love  of 
the  genuine.  Just  as  she  wanted  her  doll  to  be 
a  real  baby,  so  she  wanted  Christianity  to 
be  real  and  without  compromise,  and  love  to  be 
genuine,  not  the  dull  everyday  kind,  not  the 
little  "loves, "  but  the  great,  strong  Love,  that 
could  fill  the  whole  life.  Even  in  her  little 
daily  doings  she  tried  to  realise  this  principle. 
She  has  related  that  she  thought  that  "needle- 
work was  horrid,"  the  first  time  she  sewed  a 
hem,  and  that,  when  she  was  her  own  master, 
she  would  never  busy  herself  with  it — a  vow 
that  she  has  faithfully  kept !  But  it  is  signifi- 
cant that,  during  the  years  that  she  had  to 
assist  in  the  home-sewing,  her  one  comfort  was 
to  do  it  well.  Ellen's  seams  were  famous  in  the 
family  for  not  ripping  easily,  and  her  brothers 
always  preferred  her  to  do  their  sewing,  be- 
cause "she  was  the  only  woman  who  knew 
how  to  fasten  a  seam. " 

Music  attracted  her  strongl}-^  from  her 
earliest  years,  and  she  would  leave  any  game  to 
listen  to  it.  Then,  as  now,  she  loved  to  hide 
herself  in  some  dark  comer  where  she  would  be 
undisturbed  by  other  impressions,  and  could 
let  the  power  of  the  music  have  full  sway  over 


Childhood  and  Early  Youth         27 

her.  She  regretted  bitterly  her  inability  to 
sing,  and  she  also  struggled  in  vain  to  make  the 
piano  express  her  feelings.  At  the  age  of 
twenty,  she  gave  up  her  attempts  at  playing. 
She  also  gave  up  drawing  after  some  years 
of  study,  for,  although  she  was  not  devoid 
of  talents  here,  she  did  not  consider  them 
great  enough  to  warrant  the  necessary  time 
and  labour.  Her  colour  sense  showed  itself 
early  in  her  arrangement  of  flowers,  and  this 
part  of  the  home  decorations  was  given  her 
to  do  from  childhood. 

She  learned  to  dance  simply  through  listen- 
ing to  the  music,  and  she  is  said  to  have 
danced  well.  But  she  had  always  declared 
she  would  stop  when  she  was  twenty-five 
years  old,  and  she  did.  Now  in  her  old  age 
the  desire  to  dance  has  returned,  and  when 
with  intimate  friends  she  sometimes  takes  a 
turn  in  an  old  waltz. 

When  between  twelve  and  fourteen  years 
of  age  Ellen  became  melancholy,  because  of 
the  lack  of  harmony  in  life,  because  of  the 
ugliness  and  injustice  that  reigned  in  the  world, 
because  "  God  was  not,"  and  everything  "went 
wrong."     Tegn^r's  Mjeltsjukan"  was  now  the 

I  Literal  translation — spleen-sickness,  otherwise  melancholy. — 
Translator's  footnote. 


28  Ellen  Key 

poem  that  appealed  to  her  as  giving  expression 
to  her  own  mood.  Tegner,  Runeberg,  and 
Nikander  were  her  favourite  poets  during  these 
years.  At  that  time  she  little  dreamed  that 
she  herself  would  write.  It  was  under  the 
influence  of  Almkvist,  Geijer,  and  Bjomson, 
the  "deeply  beloved"  poets  of  her  twenty- 
year  period,  that  she  began  to  think  of 
writing — sketches  of  peasant  life — and  made 
extensive  studies  with  this  object  in  view.  The 
clear-sightedness  of  her  mother,  however,  saved 
her  from  wasting  time  in  a  direction  in  which 
her  talents  did  not  lie.  The  mother's  words, 
that  "Ellen  was  too  introspective,  too  little 
interested  in,  or  observant  of,  the  diversity  of 
life,"  were  decisive  for  her.  Ellen  deeply 
felt  the  truth  of  this,  and  with  her  eyes  thus 
opened  to  her  limitations  she  came  to  under- 
stand that  the  soul,  its  life,  condition,  and 
growth,  was  even  then  the  great  question 
for  her.  Therefore  she  began  to  concentrate 
her  mind  on  this  problem. 

Individualist  from  birth  as  Ellen  Key  had 
been,  she  may  not  always  have  been  easy  to 
handle  and  to  understand.  She  had  a  mind  of 
her  own.  Her  love  for  reading  was  so  passion- 
ate that  she  believes  herself  capable  of  com- 
mitting crimes  to  get  books.     She  would  take 


Childhood  and  Early  Youth         29 

without  permission  books  denied  her,  and 
"therefore  knows  from  experience  that  nothing 
tempts  a  book -hungry  child  more  than  re- 
fusals, which  ought  never  to  be  made. "  This 
will  power,  which  showed  itself  whenever  she 
wanted  to  reach  a  desired  goal,  was  absent 
in  other  cases.  Her  inability  to  be  interested 
and  systematic  in  the  housewifely  activities, 
which  the  practical  and  orderly  mother  ex- 
pected of  her,  but  which  Ellen  considered  less 
important,  caused  conflicts  which,  in  child- 
hood, laid  the  basis  for  her  later  views  on 
education.  Her  love  of  freedom  and  justice 
caused  herself,  as  well  as  those  who  had  the 
difficult  task  of  guiding  her,  many  hard  mo- 
ments. Fortunately  for  Ellen,  her  mother 
early  recognised  the  worth  of  her  determined 
character,  and  confident  that  her  trust  was 
not  misplaced,  dared  more  and  more  to  give 
her  free  rein  in  her  development.  "Self- 
realisation"  was  thus  encouraged,  and  her 
individualism  grew  more  pronounced. 

On  the  whole  Ellen  used  her  freedom  well. 
Though  glad  to  be  released  from  such  duties  as 
antagonised  her  nature,  she  would  with  ease 
perform  others,  which  for  most  people  were 
more  difficult.  There  may  be  recounted  a 
little  nursery-episode  which  at  first  glance  may 


30  Ellen  Key 

strike  the  reader  as  rather  insignificant,  but 
which  holds  much  of  importance  for  the  char- 
acterisation of  her  personality.  It  concerns 
her  relation  to  her  sisters  and  brothers.  When 
any  sweetmeats  were  to  be  shared  between 
them,  their  supreme  trust  in  her  was  shown  by 
their  general  cry  in  chorus :  "Let  Ellen  divide, 
then  it  will  be  just."  Though  quite  aware 
of  the  fact  that  Ellen  had  precedence  over 
them  in  the  eyes  of  the  parents,  it  at  no  time 
inspired  them  to  envy,  either  then  or  later. 
They  loved  her  dearly  because  she  used  her 
position  in  the  family  to  their  advantage. 
May  not  the  assistance  Ellen  gave  her  mother 
and  the  home  in  this  way,  more  than  outweigh 
the  help  she  might  have  given  with  a  needle  in 
her  hand  had  she  been  an  ordinary,  good,  and 
dutiful  daughter? 

Another  example  of  the  impression  Ellen 
made  on  her  associates  is  related  by  her 
childhood's  friend,  Lisa  Hultin.  The  two 
little  girls  had  discovered  a  patch  of  deli- 
cious wild  strawberries.  They  were  enjoying 
them  to  their  hearts'  content  when  Lisa  no- 
ticed that  Ellen  gave  her  the  largest  berries 
and  wanted  to  know  the  reason  for  this.  * '  Be- 
cause I  know  that  you  would  have  given  me 
the  best  if  you  had  found  them,"  was  the 


Childhood  and  Early  Youth        31 

answer.  This  naive  credulity,  which  makes 
her  expect  from  others  the  same  nobility 
characteristic  of  herself,  to  believe  the  best 
of  people  and  interpret  their  actions  in  the  best 
possible  light,  has  ever  caused  her  many  dis- 
appointments. 

To  strengthen  her  naturally  somewhat  deli- 
cate constitution  Ellen  spent  four  summers 
on  the  west  coast  before  she  was  eleven  years 
old.  The  sea  made  a  deep  impression  on  her. 
There  she  felt  she  could  breathe  freely,  she 
wanted  to  live  her  life  on  the  sea,  and  wished 
to  become  a  sailor!  Thus,  the  little  girl 
dreamed,  and  this  love  of  the  sea  has  re- 
mained with  the  matured  woman  and  has 
made  her  yearn  to  grow  old  near  it  and 
actually  die  in  it. 

Not  for  nought  was  Don  Quixote  one  of  the 
friends  of  her  childhood ;  he  had  moved  her  to 
tears  oftener  than  to  laughter. 

Ellen  Key  never  went  to  school  in  the  ordi- 
nary sense,  although  during  the  year  of  her 
confirmation  she  was  a  boarder  in  a  private 
school  in  Stockholm,  and  attended  lessons  in 
special  subjects  for  two  semesters.  Together 
with  her  Swedish  schooling  she  had  been 
fortunate  enough  to  have,  from  the  age  of  six, 
a    German    teacher,    and    a     native    French 


C>- 


32  Ellen  Key 

teacher  at  fourteen,  through  whom  she  grew 
familiar  with  these  languages  in  her  childhood. 
Grammar  and  arithmetic  were  stumbling- 
blocks  to  her.  The  mother,  who  was  Ellen's 
teacher  in  these  branches  during  the  first  years, 
was  not  acquainted  with  the  newer  ideas  of 
pedagogy  and  child  psychology,  and  therefore 
could  not  understand  that  a  child  might  find 
one  subject  hard  and  another  easy.  Conse- 
quently she  tried  with  severe  means  to  cure 
what  she  considered  nothing  but  obstinacy — 
a  method  of  education  which  grounded  Ellen's 
abhorrence  of  every  kind  of  forcible  upbringing. 

She  learned  her  lessons  at  the  last  moment, 
and  she  generally  knew  them  well,  when  she 
understood  them  at  all.  But,  she,  herself, 
declares  that  she  was  quite  devoid  of  ambition, 
and  that  no  prospect  of  praise  could  induce  her 
to  leave  an  interesting  book  for  the  sake  of 
studying  her  lessons.  And  she  thinks  that  her 
brain,  with  a  true  instinct  for  self-preservation, 
forgot  all  that  did  not  interest  her. 

Although  she  has  later  filled  the  gaps  in  her 
knowledge,  she  considers  herself  ignorant  in 
everything,  which  does  not,  in  one  way  or 
another,  refer  to  human  life — that  is,  history, 
literature,  and  sociology.  In  languages  the 
correct  phrases  and  shade  of  expression  come 


Childhood  and  Early  Youth         33 

easy  to  her  in  talking  and  writing,  but  she 
never  can  learn  them  grammatically.  If,  for 
example,  you  speak  of  relative  subordinate 
clause,  or  dependent  clause  in  the  Swedish 
language,  she  declares  that  in  her  humble 
opinion  you  are  "humbugging,"  for  she  has 
never  understood  any  difference  between  them, 
and  in  her  mind  the  conjunctions  stand  on 
just  as  shaky  legs  as  the  foiu*  simple  rules  of 
arithmetic.  In  writing,  her  language  is  de- 
termined only  by  her  sense  of  style,  and  she 
rewrites  all  her  manuscripts  four,  five,  some 
pages  even  ten,  twenty  times,  or  until  it 
sounds  well  to  her  ear.  Except  for  this 
shortcoming  in  grammatical  knowledge  she 
would  have  been  even  a  greater  literary 
artist. 

The  home-life  at  Sundsholm  was  secluded, 
and  spent  in  serious  occupations.  There  were 
no  neighbours  except  those  already  mentioned, 
and  young  people's  parties,  with  dances  and 
exctirsions,  were  of  rare  occurrence,  as  were 
amusements  in  the  ordinary  sense.  One  gets 
the  impressions  that  the  cultured  father  lived 
chiefly  for  his  literary  and  political  interests, 
and  the  mother  with  him,  while  the  children 
lived  their  own  life. 


34  Ellen  Key 

However  lacking  the  mother  may  have 
been  in  pedagogical  insight,  she  had  a  true 
comprehension  of  her  eldest  daughter,  and 
recognised  her  individual  turn  of  mind.  Both 
mother  and  father  encouraged  her  intellectual 
development.  Unusual  freedom  was  allowed 
her  early  by  her  parents.  The  mother  gave 
her  Camilla  CoUett's  Amtmannen's  dottrar 
(The  Prefect's  Daughters)  when  she  was  thir- 
teen years  old.  This  story  and  other  novels 
of  good  English  authors — particularly  those 
of  Miss  Muloch — made  so  deep  an  impression 
on  the  young  girl,  that  her  conceptions  of  love 
were  formed  on  the  same  pattern  of  earnest- 
ness and  genuineness  which  she  has  always 
worshipped  in  great  and  small  things.  She 
grew  to  womanhood  without  being  troubled 
by  such  influences  as  often  disturb  adolescence. 
Silly  talk,  coquetry,  and  foolish  ideas  did  not 
occupy  her  mind,  filled  as  it  was  with  dreams 
of  love  of  a  deeper  kind.  Even  as  a  child  she 
was  interested  in  the  larger  human  questions. 

Her  great-grandmother  had  a  volume  of 
portraits  from  the  Crimean  War  which  inter- 
ested the  six-year-old  so  much  that  the  book 
was  given  her.  Garibaldi  inspired  her  enthusi- 
asm at  the  age  of  eight  and  ten,  as  Poland's 
struggle  for  freedom  did  at  thirteen  and  four- 


Childhood  and  Early  Youth         35 

teen.  Then  came  the  Danish  War,  and,  when 
her  father's  half-brother,  Hugo  Raab,  went  out 
as  a  volunteer  he  made  a  visit  to  Sundsholm. 
With  feelings  of  pride  as  well  as  sorrow  the 
family  bade  him  farewell,  following  with 
throbbing  hearts  the  progress  of  the  war  in 
which  Raab's  regiment  of  volunteers  took  an 
honourable  part.  Hugo  Raab,  later  renowned 
as  a  reformer  of  the  General  Staff,  early 
taught  Ellen  to  combine  her  love  of  peace  with 
a  respect  for  an  enlightened  defence. 

She  always  listened  with  breathless  interest 
to  a  serious  conversation.  Society  did  not 
attract  her  on  account  of  her  excessive  shyness, 
and  her  first  ball  opened  with  tears  because 
she  was  made  to  appear  in  a  gown  sHghtly 
decollete. 

It  was  of  great  importance  for  the  full  de- 
velopment of  this  dreaming,  introspective, 
and  thoughtful  girl  that,  through  the  com- 
prehensive forethought  of  her  mother,  she 
had  her  own  room  from  the  time  she  was 
twelve.  She  was  given  a  nest  of  her  very  own, 
a  gable  room  with  blue  walls  and  her  own 
furniture,  a  little  white  writing  desk  which  had 
been  her  grandfather's,  a  rocker  presented  her 
at  the  age  of  four,  and  a  bookcase,  also  a 


36  Ellen  Key- 

gift  of  the  grandfather.  From  her  window, 
she  had  a  close  view  of  the  lake  with  its 
islands  and  of  meadows  of  oak  and  birch.  It 
was  her  great  good  fortune  that  she  was  al- 
lowed to  live  among  books  and  nature  and, 
awakened  by  the  sunrise  on  summer  mornings, 
to  lie  and  listen  to  the  singing  of  the  birds, 
the  lapping  of  the  waves,  and  inhale  the  fra- 
grance of  the  honeysuckle  and  linden  blossoms 
through  the  open  window. 

"You  see,"  she  once  wrote,  "I  am  born  for 
country  and  solitude ;  they  nourish  me.  Social 
activity  and  fellow-feeling — I  have  acquired. " 
Thanks  to  this  training  of  herself,  the  imagi- 
native and  contemplative  disposition,  which 
Ellen  Key  another  time  calls  her  temptation, 
has  not  been  allowed  the  upper  hand. 

She  occupied  this  room  from  twelve  un- 
til forty  years  of  age.  First  uninterruptedly 
eight  years — except  the  winter  spent  in  Stock- 
holm when  she  was  confirmed — and  after  that 
during  the  summers.  How  happy  she  felt 
each  time  she  arrived  home  from  Stockholm! 
How  intensely  she  worked,  thought,  and 
studied  in  this  little  room! 

To  herself  may  well  be  applied  the  words: 
"The  bom  individualist  has,  even  in  the  nur- 
sery, instinctively  chosen  his  books,  his  mode 


Childhood  and  Early  Youth        37 

of  work.  .  .  .  One  filled  with  a  passion  to  be 
wholly  himself,  to  live  in  every  nerve,  to  ex- 
press his  innermost  being,  may  never  have 
a  calm,  but  ever  a  rich  existence.  To  him 
life  is  a  song,  for  he  himself  composes  it  dur- 
ing the  work-a-day  toil,  the  exaltation  of  the 
great  moments,  the  years  of  suffering,  and  the 
hours  of  happiness.  .  .  .  Thus  he  will  win, 
for  himself  and  for  others,  new  life-values, 
new  life -incentives."  ' 

'  See  The  Freedom  of  the  Personality. 


CHAPTER  III 

YOUTH   AND   THE   FIRST   YEARS   IN    STOCKHOLM 

WHEN  Ellen  Key  was  old  enough  to  be 
confirmed  and  was  sent  to  Stockholm 
for  a  course  of  instruction,  she  had  already 
passed  through  a  stage  of  personal  religious 
development.  In  regard  to  this,  she  writes  as 
follows:  "I  read  the  Bible  as  a  'storybook,' 
loved  Jesus,  knew  my  Catechism  worst  of  all, 
listened  to  my  father's  reading  of  Martensen's 
sermons  on  Sundays,  hated  God  ever  since  at 
ten  I  read  of  Jesus'  suffering,  and,  after  seeing 
a  man  die  who  ought  to  have  lived,  I  denied 
Him  and  worshipped  Nature  alone. " 

Having  thus  been  led  to  doubt  God,  because 
of  the  death  of  a  young  man  whose  wife  and 
little  children  were  left  destitute,  she  wanted 
explicit  proof  of  God's  existence  or  non- 
existence. She  wrote  in  the  sand:  "God  is 
DEAD, "  thinking  that  if  He  existed.  He  would 
send  her  a  stroke  of  lightning  or  some  other 
sure  sign  to  punish  her  blasphemy.     In  The 

38 


Youth  and  First  Years  in  Stockholm    39 

Century  of  the  Child  she  relates,  how,  after 
having  waited  in  vain  for  some  sign,  she 
yet  wished  to  give  God  respite,  and  said  to 
herself:  "If  the  words  are  still  here  in  this 
secluded  place  to-morrow,  then  He  is  surely- 
dead,  but  if  He  has  erased  them,  He  lives!" 
The  following  day  the  words  were  gone,  but, 
thinking  she  saw  traces  of  the  gardener's  rake, 
the  uncertainty  as  to  whether  this  or  the 
finger  of  God  had  decided  the  question,  con- 
tinued. It  is  remarkable  with  what  earnest- 
ness and  desire  for  truth  the  ten-year-old  child 
proceeds. 

This  restless  seeking  mood  continued  all 
through  her  early  '  'teens. ' '  During  the  winter 
of  1864-65,  which  she  spent  in  Stockholm 
on  account  of  her  confirmation,  she  lived  in 
a  religious  home,  where  she  was  impressed 
"not  by  religious  phrases,  but  by  a  truly 
religious  life, "  and  by  the  harmony  and  great- 
ness of  spirit  it  revealed.  Through  her  associ- 
ation with  Mina  and  Karin  Ahlin,  in  whose 
school  she  was  a  boarder,— especially  through 
the  genial  Mina — she  came  to  realise  the  beauty 
of  Christianity.  "And  so  I  became  a  Christian, 
and  in  deepest  earnestness  tried  to  live  as  a 
Christian,  struggling  ceaselessly  against  the 
demands  of  intellect,  personality,  and  beauty. " 


40  Ellen  Key 

All  her  Sundays,  Christmas  and  Easter  holi- 
days were  spent  with  her  aunt  and  uncle, 
Count  Skoldebrand,  Governor  of  the  Royal 
Palace.  As  she  grew  famiHar  with  the  beauty 
of  the  palace,  her  love  for  great  architecture 
was  aroused.  Her  lonely  wanderings  in  what 
was  then  the  Stone  Museum  in  one  of  the 
wings  of  the  palace — before  the  National 
Museimi  was  built — nurtured  her  love  of 
sculpture,  which  had  already  been  awakened 
by  the  many  Thorwaldsen  works  she  had  seen 
in  the  home,  where  even  her  mother's  writing 
desk  held  bas-reliefs  by  that  artist.  Even  at 
the  age  of  seven,  when  she  made  her  first 
visit  to  Thorwaldsen 's  Museum  in  Copen- 
hagen, she  greatly  enjoyed  the  works  of  art 
familiar  to  her  at  home,  and  the  gods  and  god- 
desses which  she  recognised  from  her  reading 
of  Greek  mythology. 

During  the  confirmation  period  there  often 
flitted  before  her  mind's  eye,  though  yet 
vaguely,  the  problem  which  later  occupied 
her  so  deeply,  the  possibility  of  a  harmony 
between  the  Ancient  and  the  Christian  ideal. 

Doctor  Rothlieb,  Ellen's  religious  instructor, 
was  the  idol  of  the  day,  and  most  of  his  pupils 
worshipped  him.  But  neither  he  nor  any 
other  minister  or  teacher  could  find  in  Ellen 


Youth  and  First  Years  in  Stockholm    41 

Key  a  pupil  who  would  accept  their  instruction 
as  a  lamp  to  her  feet.  She  has  never  stood  in 
the  personal  relationship  of  pupil  to  master 
or  had  confidential  intercourse  with  any 
living  teacher,  or  confounded  the  man  with 
his  message,  as  women  often  do.  From  the 
dead,  she  has  taken  what  she  needed,  and,  on 
the  whole,  remained  free. 

The  Confessions  of  Augustine  put  Christian- 
ity before  her  in  its  strictest  requirements. 
Any  easy  compromise  with  the  pleasant  things 
in  life  was  not  to  be  thought  of.  It  must  be 
stern  and  genuine  Christianity.  Ellen  Key 
was  now  a  believer,  though  her  mental  con- 
flicts were  severe.  She  was  much  inclined 
to  dreaming  and  inactivity.  She  preferred  to 
bury  herself  in  books,  in  peace  and  quiet,  and 
here,  as  in  nature,  she  sought  to  understand 
life  and  herself.  The  service  of  love  among 
the  sick  and  poor,  which  Christianity  urged 
upon  her,  was  extremely  difficiilt  for  one  of 
her  temperament.  And  yet,  she  told  herself 
that  just  this  service  was  what  Jesus  expected 
of  his  true  disciples.  And  how  dared  she  call 
herself  one,  she  who  could  not  even  bear  to 
look  at  a  small  wound,  much  less  overcome 
horror  and  loathing  for  Christ's  sake?  And 
the  works  of  art  and  beauty  which  she  adored, 


42  Ellen  Key- 

were  they  always  in  harmony  with  Christian- 
ity?    Thus  she  pondered  in  her  mind. 

Her  mother  had  planned  to  have  Ellen 
teach  her  youngest  sister  and  a  playmate  of 
the  same  age.  Immediately  upon  her  arrival 
home  from  Stockholm,  the  fifteen -year-old 
girl  took  up  this  work,  fully  conscious  of  the 
responsibility  involved.  I  once  heard  Ellen 
Key  tell  of  the  joyful  anticipation  with  which, 
while  yet  in  Stockholm,  she  prepared  herself 
for  this  task,  thinking  with  what  motherly 
tenderness  she  would  care  for  the  little  sister 
who  was  six  years  her  jimior.  From  the  other 
pupil,  Miss  Ada  Rydstrom,  I  have  the  highest 
testimony  of  Ellen's  pedagogical  power,  al- 
ready developed  at  that  time.  "Ineradicable 
impressions  were  made  on  the  child-mind  by 
her  teachings.  We  felt  great  respect  for  her, 
though  at  the  same  time  we  much  enjoyed  our 
lessons."  The  religious  development  of  this 
former  pupil  later  took  a  different  direction 
from  that  of  Ellen  Key's,  yet  her  opinion  of 
Ellen's  character,  her  purity  and  nobility  of 
mind,  remains  unchanged.  She  also  speaks 
of  Ellen's  love  of  nature,  of  her  leisure  mo- 
ments spent  in  woods  and  fields.  No  one  was 
allowed  to  know  the  solitary  places  which  were 
her  chosen  haunts. 


Youth  and  First  Years  in  Stockholm    43 

The  Swedish  religious  lyricists,  Stagnelius, 
Atterbom,  and  Topelius,  were  at  this  age  her 
favourite  poets.  Her  feeling  towards  Natiire 
was  very  romantic  during  this  period ;  Nature 
was  personified. 

It  is  probable  that  she  had  already  learned 
the  virtue  of  that  "Stillness,"  of  which  she 
speaks  so  feelingly  in  one  of  her  essays,  and 
which  she  later  so  often  sought  for  herself  in 
remote  and  secluded  places. 

When  Ellen  was  in  her  seventeenth  year, 
a  tragedy  determined  her  life's  philosophy. 
Two  young  women,  cousins  of  Ellen's,  visit- 
ing at  Sundsholm,  were  drowned  while  bathing, 
and  Ellen  herself  barely  escaped.  Religious 
emotions  now  filled  her  completely,  and  for 
years  she  struggled  with  the  problem  of  a 
Christian  view  of  life,  and  the  philosophy, 
which  later  put  its  stamp  on  all  her  words  and 
actions,  slowly  matured  within  her.  To  the 
deep -thinking,  truth-seeking  Ellen,  who  had 
seen  her  two  friends  snatched  from  life  in  a  few 
seconds,  their  spiritual  state  not  at  all  what 
Christianity  required  as  essential  to  their  sal- 
vation, the  question  of  eternal  bliss  and  punish- 
ment became  the  vital  problem  in  life.  She 
wrote  whole  packs  of  "journals  "  during  the  fol- 
lowing ten  years,  which  journals  reflect  the 


44  Ellen  Key 

gradual  progress  of  her  development  so  entirely 
without  the  influence  of  so-called  heretical  writ- 
ings. She  never  read  Victor  Rydberg,  for  in- 
stance, until  after  she  had,  of  her  own  accord, 
abandoned  her  belief  in  the  Divinity  of  Christ. 
Alone  she  sought  light.  For  edification  dur- 
ing these  years  she  read  the  Bible,  Colain's 
Meditations,  and  the  sermons  of  the  English- 
man Robertson,  which  she  re-read  many  times. 
The  works  of  Renan,  Parker,  and  Ignell  were 
in  her  father's  library,  but,  not  believing  it 
right  to  subject  herself  to  ex-par te  influence, 
she  did  not  read  them.  She  never  attended 
the ' '  Lord's  Supper ' '  after  her  first  communion, 
feeling,  even  at  eighteen,  that  she  could  not 
fully  participate  in  that  act.  After  twenty, 
she  also  refused  to  act  as  sponsor  at  the  bap- 
tism of  infants,  as  their  christening  seemed 
to  her  to  be  blasphemy.  Gradually  her  heart 
became  severed  from  Christianity,  and  yet, 
up  to  the  age  of  nearly  forty,  she  still  clung  to 
the  thought  of  a  personal  God,  and  a  personal 
immortality. 

It  was  not  until  more  than  thirty  years  after 
the  tragedy  related,  and  when  she  had  been 
attacked  for  radicalism  and  unbelief,  that 
Ellen  Key  felt  it  to  be  a  duty  and  a  right  to 
herself  and  to  others  openly  to  confess  her 


Youth  and  First  Years  in  Stockholm    45 

breach  with  Christianity,  and  to  declare  her 
reasons  for  it. 

In  Ellen  Key's  home  there  was  the  same 
aversion  to  class  prejudices  and  class  preten- 
sions as  prevailed  among  all  Liberals  preceding 
the  change  in  the  system  of  representation, 
which    change    principally    resulted    in    the 
abrogation  of  the  nobleman's  right  of  rule  in 
the  Riksdag.     Consequently  their  high  pedi- 
gree had  no  place  in  the  children's  imagination, 
and  they  never  heard  any  talk  conducive  to 
family  pride.     Ellen  once  wrote:    "I  inherited 
no  prejudice  from  my  father  or  mother,  and  I 
have  never  heard  from  them  anything  but 
respect  for  human  life,  for  liberty,  laboiir,  and 
progress."     Ellen  yet  had  as  a  child  such  a 
passion   for  all   family-history,   even   in   the 
meagre  form  of  the   Peerage    Calendar   and 
Swedish  Genealogy,  that  she  eagerly  perused 
these  and  pondered  the  fates  of  the  people 
narrated  therein.     When,  later,  as  a  young 
girl, — about    the    time    that    the    theory    of 
evolution  was  beginning  to  prepare  minds  for 
the  significance  of  heredity, — she  learned  of 
her  ancestors,  their  romantic  history  filled  her 
with  pride.    Harald  Harfager,  for  instance,  had 
united  the  many  small  kingdoms  of  Norway 


46  Ellen  Key 

for  the  love  of  Princess  Gyda,  who  had  made 
this  the  condition  of  marrying  him!  That 
Karl  VIII  (Knutson)  had  been  King  of  Sweden 
meant  nothing  to  her,  compared  with  the  fact 
that  he  had  so  deeply  loved  his  wife  that  the 
chronicle  touchingly  relates  their  happiness 
and  his  grief  at  her  death.  And  Leonora 
Kristina  Ulfeld  had  languished  in  prison  forty 
years  because  of  her  loyalty  to  her  beloved 
husband.  Very  proud  was  Ellen  of  her  an- 
cestor, the  younger  Sten  Sture,  and  his  wife, 
Kristina  Gyllenstjerna,  who  in  her  dead  hus- 
band's place  had  so  bravely  defended  Stock- 
holm's palace  against  the  Danes.  And  she 
loved  the  story  of  their  granddaughter,  Malin 
Sture,  and  the  latter's  cousin,  Erik  Stenbock, 
who  after  years  of  faithful  love  ran  away 
to  become  imited,  defying  law  and  custom. 
Ebba  Brahe,  the  beloved  of  Gustavus  II 
(Adolphus),  is  another  romantic  character 
among  the  many  that  abound  in  Ellen  Key's 
ancestry. 

And  Ellen  heard  of  weird  and  wonderful 
personalities,  not  many  generations  removed 
from  herself.  Her  paternal  great-grandmother, 
as  a  widow,  contracted  a  romantic  marriage 
with  one  Lautier,  said  to  have  been  an  Italian 
pirate.     Her  maternal  great-grandmother  was, 


Youth  and  First  Years  in  Stockholm    47 

in  her  time,  the  much  talked  of  "Night- 
Countess,"  who  slept  by  day  and  rode  out 
with  torches  and  four  black  horses  by  night — 
a  haughty  and  imperious  lady! 

A  kinsman  and  foster-brother  of  Ellen's 
grandfather,  one  Count  Posse,  had  married 
Princess  Canino,  niece  of  Napoleon  I,  also  a 
romantic  love-union. 

The  glamour  of  tragic  love  hung  over  Stafio, 
one  of  the  grandfather's  estates.  There,  a 
German  princess,  Dorothea  von  Zettvitz, 
had  lived  many  years,  a  fugitive,  because 
of  love,  from  the  small  German  Court  of  the 
eighteenth  century  where  she  had  spent  her 
youth. 

All  these  romantic  associations  have  played 
their  part  in  Ellen  Key's  mental  and  emotional 
world,  which  from  childhood  was  influenced 
by  the  conception  of  the  greatness  and  signi- 
ficance of  love.  She  had  then  "fallen  in  love 
with  love, "  as  she  once  so  quaintly  wrote. 

Ellen  Key's  nearest  of  kin,  her  paternal  and 
maternal  grandparents  as  well  as  her  own 
parents,  had  all  experienced  love  and  happiness 
m  marriage.  Thus  we  find  her  bom  and  bred 
m  the  consciousness  of  great  love  as  of  the 
highest  value  to  life. 

When  she  was  eighteen  years  old,  her  mother 

I   ^  ■ 
/ 


48  Ellen  Key 

gave  her  three  books  of  Ibsen :  The  Comedy  of 
Love,  Brand,  and  Peer  Gynt.  The  choice  of 
this  gift  is  especially  characteristic  of  both 
giver  and  receiver.  Although  Ibsen,  in  1868, 
was  already  known  as  a  great  writer,  he  was 
not  generally  read  in  Sweden.  But  Sophie 
Key  had  not  allowed  the  many  duties  of  a 
large  household  in  the  country  to  deaden  her 
intelligence,  or  to  stifle  her  broad  interests 
in  literature  and  life.  With  keen  insight  into 
her  daughter's  development,  she  now  intro- 
duced her  to  Ibsen.  What  effect  his  works 
had  on  Ellen,  particularly  The  Comedy  of  Love, 
she  has  herself  related  in  her  Tankehilder 
{Thought  Images).  Though  ill  at  the  time, 
she  unconsciously  learned  almost  the  whole 
play  by  heart.  Her  fevered  imagination  was 
filled  with  its  characters,  and  her  recovery  was 
retarded  because  the  brain  had  no  respite  from 
the  sting  of  the  sharp  retorts.  She  says :  "  Ib- 
sen's  deepest  pathos  met  me  on  a  larger  scale 
in  Brand  and  Peer  Gynt,  but  ...  my  innermost 
instincts  had  prepared  a  perfect  concurrence 
with  his  high  idealism  in  The  Comedy  of  Love.'' 
We  must  hold  fast  the  picture  of  Ellen  Key 
at  eighteen,  overwhelmed  with  grief  at  the 
disclosure  of  society's  half-heartedness,  at  the 
insincerity  of  all  the  world,  in  the  presence 


Youth  and  First  Years  in  Stockholm    49 

of  tragedy-comedy,  if  we  are  to  understand 
how,  in  later  years,  with  acquired  gentleness, 
she  goes  so  far  as  to  contradict  her  own  life- 
ideal  by  a  tolerance  probably  too  great. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  blood  coursing  in  her 
veins,  and  making  her  heart  beat  more  passion- 
ately than  is  the  common  lot,  she  has  inherited 
from  strong,  vital  personalities,  who  did  not 
trudge  the  dull  path  of  commonplace  existence, 
but  lived  rich  and  unusual  lives. 

Thus  we  find  that  only  after  decades  of 
thought  and  study,  did  Ellen  Key,  at  a  mature 
age,  enter  the  arena  to  fight  the  marriage 
institution,  as  it  exists  at  present,  "which, 
with  its  proprietary  rights,  has  converted  the 
tenderest  expression  of  personal  liberty  into 
life-imprisonment,  where  the  highest  possibil- 
ity of  life-joy  is  changed  into  a  shelter  for  life- 
loathing. " 

But  before  she  appeared  as  a  writer  on  this 
and  similar  subjects,  her  powers  had  been 
engaged  in  quite  other  spheres. 


CHAPTER  IV 

REMOVAL   OF  THE  FAMILY   TO  STOCKHOLM 

'T'HE  path  of  Ellen  Key's  life  goes  straight 
-■•  and  true  toward  the  goal  which  she  had 
unconsciousl}^  chosen  for  herself  as  a  child. 
The  road  leading  to  development  of  individual- 
ity has  been  her  highway.  Effort  and  labour 
it  has  cost,  but  she  reached  the  goal.  Curious- 
ly enough,  we  find  that,  at  the  ages  of  twenty, 
thirty,  forty,  and  fifty,  there  were  certain 
circumstances  in  Ellen's  life  which  greatly 
helped  to  determine  her  development.  Thus 
when  she  reached  her  twentieth  year  she 
moved  with  her  parents  to  Stockholm  for  the 
winters  because  of  the  father's  participation  in 
the  Riksdag. 

A  rich  field  was  thus  opened  for  the  girl 
thirsting  for  knowledge.  She  studied  dili- 
gently at  the  library,  and  attended  lectures,  of 
which  those  by  Professor  Dietrichson  at  the 
Academy  of  Art  especially  interested  her. 
In  a  gathering  of  women  she  heard  Pontus 

50 


Removal  of  Family  to  Stockholm    51 

Wikner/  and  later  listened  to  Gustaf  Bjork- 
lund'  on  the  philosophy  of  Bostrom.^  These 
thinkers,  however,  did  not  engross  her  mind 
so  much  as  did  Spencer,  Mill,  Darwin,  Taine, 
Brandes,  and  Max  Miiller. 

She  came  in  personal  touch  with  Fru  Sophie 
Adlersparre,  whose  Tidskn'ft  for  Hemmet 
{Home  Journal)  had  strongly  influenced  her 
since  childhood,  and  had  made  her  an  eager 
adherent  of  the  movement  for  the  liberation 
of  women;  though  her  own  position  held  no 
pathos,  she  recognised  that  of  others.  She 
herself  had  received,  as  a  gift,  the  freedom 
for  which  others  must  battle. 

Fru  Adlersparre,  who  was  always  glad  to 
discover  and  use  young  talent,  encouraged 
Ellen  to  write  for  her  journal,  and,  besides 
reports  of  lectures,  translations,  and  reviews 
of  books,  Ellen  Key  now  began  to  contribute 
original  articles. 

It  is  not  likely  that  she  would  have  come 
before  the  public  of  her  own  accord,  as  neither 

'  Pontus  Wikner,  Swedish  philosopher. — Translator's  footnote. 

'  Gustaf  Bjorklund,  prominent  in  the  International  Peace 
Movement  and  author  of  Death  and  Immortality,  translated  into 
English  and  published  by  the  Open  Court  Publishing  Company. 
— Translator's  footnote. 

i  C.  J.  Bostrom,  the  foremost  philosopher  of  Sweden. — Trans- 
lator's footnote. 


52  Ellen  Key 

ambition  nor  initiative  can  be  counted  among 
her  traits. 

For  a  number  of  years  she  was  a  student  in 
the  Misses  Rossander's  School  of  Instruction 
for  Women;  later  becoming  a  teacher  there 
in  geography,  and  where  she  gave  her  first 
regular  lecture  on  her  beloved  Geijer. '  Here 
she  also  learned  to  know  Anna  Whitlock'  and 
Julia  Kjellberg,  later  married  to  the  socialist 
von  VoUmar,  two  friends  with  whom  she  has 
ever  since  kept  in  close  touch. 

Ellen  Key's  love  of  the  soil,  of  the  childhood- 
home,  soon  grew  to  embrace  her  whole  native 
land.  The  feeling  of  patriotism  waxed  strong 
within  her. 

The  day  following  the  memorable  December 
night  when,  after  decades  of  obstinate  struggle, 
the  representation  by  Four  Classes  ceased,  and 
the  new  system  of  Two  Houses  was  adop- 
ted, Sophie  Key  and  her  daughter  Ellen  at- 
tended an  evening  party,  and  heard  their 
friends  on  every  hand  deplore  the  outcome, 
while  they  alone  rejoiced.  Ellen,  at  this  time 
not  quite  sixteen,  was  so  deeply  moved  that, 

'  A  great  Swedish  poet. — Translator's  footnote. 
'  Now  well  known  as  a  pedagogue,  and  also  prominent  in  the 
Woman  Movement. — Translator's  footnote. 


Removal  of  Family  to  Stockholm    53 

on  arriving  home,  she  went  out  alone  under  the 
starlit  heaven,  and  made  a  compact  with  her 
own  heart  that  she  would  serve  the  people  in 
her  own  humble  way,  and  help  them  to  a 
worthy  use  of  their  new  privileges  in  the  great 
work  now  begun.  Her  patriotism  from  its 
first  conscious  awakening  was  that  of  a  demo- 
crat. She  once  wrote:  " There  is  one  general 
human  feeling  which  I  have  never  shared,  and 
that  is  royalism.  I  have  been  a  repubHcan 
ever  since  I  first  learned  that  countries  were 
governed,  and  read  about  Rome  and  Athens. 
The  enthusiasm  others  have  expended  on 
royalty,  I  have  spent  on  heroes,  on  the  great 
Greeks  and  Romans,  on  our  own  great  kings, 
Gustavus  I  (Vasa)  and  Gustavus  II  (Adol- 
phus),  but  never  Charles  XII. 

We  have  seen  the  important  part  Ellen's 
father  played  for  a  long  course  of  years  in 
the  political  life  of  Sweden.  By  his  side,  the 
romantic,  dreaming  girl  looked  into  practical 
politics  as  did  few  Swedish  women  of  that  day. 
She  shared  in  her  father's  plans,  successes, 
and  struggles.  Emil  Key  was  guided  in  his 
political  activity  by  great  reform  ideas,  and 
progress  and  reform  were  being  discussed  con- 
stantly in  the  Key  home.  Herr  Key  got  more 
and  more  in  the  habit  of  sharing  his  work  with 


54  Ellen  Key 

his  daughter,  who  became  his  private  secretary, 
sometimes  writing  original  articles  for  Dagens 
Nyheter  {The  Daily  News).  As  those  of  her 
father's  dictation  were  also  in  her  handwriting, 
the  editor  took  for  granted  that  all  were  the 
work  of  Emil  Key.  Style  and  contents  seemed 
equally  good  in  all.  This  proves  how  thor- 
oughly familiar  Ellen  had  made  herself  with 
the  questions  at  issue,  otherwise  she  could  not 
have  shown  such  practical  knowledge  of  affairs 
and  insight  into  existing  political  conditions. 

During  those  early  years  in  Stockholm, 
when  Ellen  Key  lived  there  with  her  parents, 
they  had  an  apartment  in  the  Bondeska 
Palatset  at  Rosenbad.  When  this  old  relic 
of  the  aristocratic  grandeur  of  Sweden  was 
torn  down  recently,  the  following  appeared 
in  one  of  the  papers  of  the  capital:  "This 
house  also  was  inhabited,  during  the  Riksdag 
sessions,  by  the  old  veteran  of  the  House  of 
Knights,  Adam  Christian  Raab,  father  of 
Hugo  Raab,  first  chief  of  the  General  Staff, 
and  step-father  of  Emil  Key,  Liberal  Speaker 
in  the  Riksdag.  He  himself  was  a  liberal- 
minded  man,  and  the  standard-bearers  of  the 
new  times  often  gathered  in  his  home  for 
lively  debates  and  hot  discussions  of  the 
questions    of    the    day.     Those    were    times 


Removal  of  Family  to  Stockholm    55 

when  the  noble  old  walls  resounded  with  the 
eloquent  orations  for  freedom  which  sprang 
from  the  lips  of  August  Blanche,  August  Sohl- 
man  and  Karl  Fredrik  Ridderstad  .  .  .  while 
young  Ellen  Key  by  her  father's  side  sat 
gazing  at  the  contestants  with  large,  wondering 
eyes,  in  which  was  the  prophecy  of  the  truth- 
teller  of  the  future." 

We  have  had  many  opportunities  of  witness- 
ing the  unfeigned  pleasure  of  the  old  Liberals 
at  finding  Ellen  Key  among  the  invited 
guests  at  social  functions  in  the  eighties. 
Then,  as  always  in  large  companies,  she  pre- 
ferred listening  to  talking,  taking  a  lively 
part  in  conversation  only  in  small  and  intimate 
circles.  She  has  never  been  a  brilliant  per- 
sonage in  society  circles. 

The  vow  to  live  for  the  enlightenment  of 
the  people,  which  she  had  made  to  herself 
that  December  night  in  1865,  gradually  foimd 
its  expression  in  work  among  the  peasants. 
She  had  renewed  this  vow  in  the  forest,  by  a 
rock  which  became  her  altar,  and  without 
further  preliminaries,  eager  to  start  in  at  once, 
she  found  the  simple  means  of  beginning  by 
taking  up  the  work  nearest  at  hand,  that 
of  making  herself  useful  in  her  immediate 
surroundings. 


56  Ellen  Key 

At  twenty,  she  had  begun  holding  "Sunday- 
school"  for  the  young  people  on  the  estate 
during  the  summers,  which  the  family  still 
always  spent  at  Sundsholm,  and  here  she 
taught  history,  natural  science,  literature,  etc., 
and  loaned  out  books  from  the  little  "Folk- 
library"  she  had  herself  founded  by  adding 
some  new  volumes  to  her  own  old  books. 
From  girlhood,  and  long  before  the  movement 
for  the  education  of  the  masses  had  become  the 
fashion,  Ellen  Key  had  busied  herself  in  such 
work,  giving  of  her  working  time  as  well  as 
her  leisure  hoiu*s.  Alone,  she  dwelt  with 
thoughts  which,  when  she  later  expressed 
them  in  print,  she  was  accused  of  having 
borrowed   from   abroad ! 

When  Ellen  was  a  few  years  past  twenty, 
she  received  an  offer  to  begin  as  a  teacher, 
and  later  become  principal  of  a  Folk-high- 
school  for  girls  in  Skane,  in  which  some  of 
her  father's  senatorial  friends  were  interested. 
With  this  position  in  view,  she  spent  the  sum- 
mer of  1874  in  Denmark,  studying  the  fore- 
most schools  of  that  kind,  principally  those  of 
Vallekilde,  Testrup,  and  Askov.  When  Ellen, 
in  her  own  profound  way,  had  thoroughly 
inspected  these  important  institutions,  she 
came   to   the   conclusion    that    she   was   too 


Removal  of  Family  to  Stockholm    57 

young  to  accept  so  responsible  a  position, 
especially  as  she  had  not  yet  reached  any  clear 
view  as  to  the  religious  problems  which  filled 
her  mind.  But  her  dream  and  endeavour,  from 
this  time  on,  was  to  found  a  Folk-highschool 
for  girls  in  her  own  home  county,  and  for 
years  she  studied  and  laboured  in  prepara- 
tion for  this.  She  associated  closely  with  the 
peasants  trying  to  get  a  true  understanding 
of  their  view  of  life,  their  customs,  and  habits. 
She  collected  sagas,  folk-tales,  and  proverbs, 
embracing  the  opportunity  at  the  same  time 
to  collect  old-fashioned  articles  of  peasant 
make  for  Arthur  Hazelius,'  whose  new  move- 
ment for  a  National  Folk  Museum  deeply 
interested  her. 

Ellen's  visit  to  the  Folk-highschools  in 
Denmark  was  made  as  the  result  of  the 
above-mentioned  offer,  and  also  because  the 
great  importance  of  such  institutions  had 
been  impressed  upon  her,  as  upon  other 
Swedes,  by  Bjomstjeme  Bjomson  in  his  lec- 
tures in  Stockholm,  in  December,  1872,  and 
January,  1873;  on  Gmndtvig,  Vergeland,  the 
Sistine  Chapel,  etc.  Ellen  had  attended 
every   lecture  and   afterwards  written  them 

I  Founder  of  Skansen,  the  out-door  Museum  and  National 
Park  at  Stockholm. — Translator's  footnote. 


58  Ellen  Key 

down  from  memory,  as  well  as  everything 
Bjomson  had  said  on  occasions  when  she  had 
met  him;  and  she  lived  in  a  new  world  of 
inspiration.  She,  who  always  believed  that 
her  mother  overrated  her  when  she  had  iirged 
her  to  "exercise  her  talents, "  now  learned  that 
Bjomson  had  said  to  the  mother  that  Ellen 
would  be  an  honour  to  her  parents,  though  he 
could  not  tell  what  her  life-work  might  be, 
her  extreme  shyness  making  him  uncertain 
as  to  whether  she  would  ever  dare  to  use  her 
' '  Evne ' '  (power) .  What  he  did  know,  however, 
was  that  she  ought  first  of  all  to  be  a  wife  and 
make  some  one  happy,  but,  he  added,  "Women 
with  such  rich  inner  life  are  seldom  under- 
stood by  men,  and  to  a  woman  who,  at  the 
age  of  twenty-three,  has  not  yet  herself  been 
in  love,  love  will  some  day  come  with  tremend- 
ous seriousness."  That  Bjornson  believed  in 
her  seemed  wonderful  to  Ellen,  and  she  pro- 
mised to  try  not  to  disappoint  him.  He  had 
said  that  he  would  always  keep  in  touch  with 
her.  And  the  friendship  thus  begun  lasted 
through  life.  Notwithstanding  the  strong  in- 
fluence of  Bjornson,  who  then  was  a  Grimdt- 
vigian,'  Ellen  Key  remained  averse  to  Grundt- 

'  Member  of  the  religious  body  denominated   Grundtvigians 
after  Grundtvig,  the  Danish  hberal  divine,  who  was  pubhcly 


Removal  of  Family  to  Stockholm    59 

vigianism.  It  seemed  to  her  to  illustrate  the 
untenability  of  any  compromise  between 
Christianity  and  absolute  Liberalism. 

The  following  year  in  Stockholm,  she  met 
Magdalen  Thoresen.'  A  friendship  which 
lasted  for  life  sprang  up  between  them,  and 
Ellen  Key  often  went  to  Copenhagen  to  visit 
Magdalen,  who  retained  her  attractiveness 
and  beauty  of  spirit  even  in  her  old  age. 

Between  thirty  and  forty,  Ellen  made  other 
journeys  important  to  her  development.  She 
attended  the  World's  Fair  in  Vienna  in  1873 
with  her  father,  who  went  abroad  for  the  pur- 
pose of  studying  Reform  Schools  and  Children's 
Asylums  in  the  interest  of  Norregard,  Kalmar, 
an  institution  of  similar  kind,  of  which  he  was 
executor  after  his  father-in-law,  Count  Posse. 
During  these  visits  Ellen  Key  conceived  a 
hatred  for  all  kinds  of  institutions  for  children. 

In  Berlin,  Dresden,  Vienna,  Venice,  Florence, 
Paris,  London,  and  Cassel  the  glories  of  art 
met  Ellen's  eyes.  Her  mind  was  well  pre- 
pared by  her  own  readings,  as  well  as  by  the 
series   of   art   lectures   she  had   attended   in 


prosecuted    in    Copenhagen    because  of   his    boldly    expressed 
opinions  on  theological  subjects. — Translator's  footnote. 

'  Danish- Norwegian  author  and  stepmother  to  Ibsen's  wife. — 
Translator's  footnote. 


6o  Ellen  Key 

Stockholm,  and  also  by  her  art-loving  father's 
descriptions  of  his  travels  in  youth.  About 
Raphael's  Sistine  Madonna  she  says:  "My 
father's  impassioned  descriptions,  together 
with  an  old  woodcut  I  have  had  from  child- 
hood, made  an  impersonal  judgment  im- 
possible for  me.  The  Madonna's  face,  the 
deep  eyes,  which  appear  to  widen  within, 
and  the  even  more  wonderful  expression  of 
the  child,  move  me  profoundly  each  time 
I  see  the  picture.  ..."  Through  the 
Dresden  Gallery,  a  volume  of  engravings, 
she  knew  the  names  and  compositions  of  a 
great  many  other  paintings,  and  she  surprised 
her  father,  when  they  were  in  Dresden,  by  her 
recognition  of  the  great  art  schools  of  which 
she  had  seen  examples  for  the  first  time  in 
Berlin.  In  Cassel,  Rembrandt  impressed  her 
for  life.  On  their  arrival  home  her  father 
declared  that  "her  passion  for  art  was  so 
violent  that  she  needed  a  whole  regiment  of 
soldiers  to  accompany  her  one  after  the  other, 
and  that  she  would  wear  them  all  out. " 

Visiting  the  same  galleries  many  years  later, 
she  was  herself  surprised  to  find  how  deep  had 
been  her  impressions  from  that  first  hasty 
trip,  which  only  allowed  for  one,  or  at  most 
two  visits  to  each  museum. 


Removal  of  Family  to  Stockholm    6i 

The  preparation  for  the  study  of  Art,  which 
Ellen  had  received  in  childhood  by  association 
with  art  reproductions,  had  made  her  feel  pos- 
itive of  the  importance  of  modem  endeavours 
in  this  direction,  but  she  thinks  that  the  child- 
ren should  be  allowed  freely  to  absorb  art, 
that  it  should  be  a  subject  for  teaching  only 
in  so  far  as  the  child  is  given  answers  to  his 
own  questions. 

Italy  made  the  deepest  impression  on  her. 
For  this  country,  she  had  yearned  ever  since v 
she  had  read,  at  ten  years  of  age,  Nikander's^ 
Rung  Enzio  och  Hesperiderna  (King  Enzio  and 
the  Hesperides). 

On  account  of  a  tendency  to  lung  trouble, 
she  spent  the  summer  of  1876  in  Norway, 
where  she  learned  to  love  the  people,  as  well  as 
the  scenery,  diu*ing  a  month's  stay  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  Aulestad  and  pedestrian  tours  through 
Jotunheimen,  Sogn,  and  Hardanger. 

In  1879,  she  made  a  foiirth  journey  abroad, 
this  time  at  the  invitation  of  friends  to  accom- 
pany them  to  Holland,  London,  and  Paris. 
On  this  trip  she  had  the  opportunity  of 
visiting  her  childhood  friend,  Lisa  in  her 
happy  home  in  Rouen,  where  her  husband 
held  a  position. 

'  Swedish  poet. — Translator's  footnote. 


62  Ellen  Key 

Ellen  Key  never  had  to  fight  her  way  to 
intellectual  activity,  a  struggle  quite  common 
for  young  women  in  those  days,  when  parents 
in  the  circles  to  which  she  belonged,  rather 
wished  their  daughters  to  be  shielded  from  the 
new  ideas  of  education,  graduation,  and  other 
unwomanly  attainments.  We  have  seen  that 
Fru  Key  had  rather  encouraged  Ellen  to 
exercise  her  talents,  and  she  had  often  pro- 
posed this  or  that  career  for  her.  Her  mother 
wanted  her  to  take  some  examination,  and 
concentrate  her  power  in  one  direction.  But 
the  young  daughter  had  remained  immovable. 
"It  was  Sundsholm's  scenery,  my  books,  my 
little  room,  my  thoughts  and  dreams  I  could 
not  bear  to  leave, "  said  Ellen  once.  Her  feel- 
ing for  this  home  was  her  strongest  emotion  in 
youth.  Once,  when  she  was  eight  years  old, 
and  away  on  a  visit  with  her  mother,  the 
latter  was  awakened  by  her  little  daughter's 
sobbing.  She  had  been  unable  to  sleep  for 
fear  that  Sundsholm  might  bum  before  she 
could  reach  home!  Her  love  for  her  child- 
hood home  increased  through  fear  of  losing  it, 
a  fear  which  darkened  her  life  from  her  six- 
teenth year.  During  the  winters  in  Stock- 
holm she  used  to  follow  the  weather-reports 
from  the  home  county  with  trembling  heart. 


Removal  of  Family  to  Stockholm    63 

If  the  crops  threatened  to  fail,  she  was  in 
despair,  as  that  might  be  the  blow  which 
would  deprive  them  of  Sundsholm.  She  once 
said:  "To  live  in  the  country,  till  the  soil, 
never  leave  it — from  the  time  I  began  to  think 
this  was  the  determining  factor  in  my  emotional 
life,  and  the  modem  movement  back  to  the 
soil  is  one  in  which  my  heart  has  always  been. " 
Among  her  extremely  few  poetic  attempts 
is  a  poem'  about  a  stream  which  was  appro- 
priated for  commercial  purposes,  and  would 
thus  deprive  coming  generations  of  the  beauty 
which  had  gladdened  her.  The  real  incident 
which  inspired  the  poem  was  the  draining  of  a 
lake,  which  caused  her  years  of  regret  in  her 
youth  with  nights  of  weeping  and  days  of 
aching  sorrow.  Most  people  found  such  sor- 
row too  absurd  to  deserve  interest  or  sympathy, 
but  those  who  have  begun  to  care  for  the  culti- 
vation of  beauty  will  perceive  that  Ellen  Key 
was  not  understood,  simply  because  she  was 
ahead  of  her  time,  as  she  also  was  when  she 
wrote  down  her  thoughts  on  '*  Cultivation  of 
the  Art  of  Living"  twenty  years  before  she 
had  heard  others  express  such  views. 

•  Published  in  Tidsknft  for  Hemmet,  1874. 


CHAPTER  V 

WORK 

THE  words  with  which  Ellen  Key  ends  her 
autobiographical  data  may  be  quoted 
as  introductory  to  the  period  of  her  life 
between  thirty  and  forty  years  of  age. 

"...  In  the  meantime,  the  agricultural 
crisis  drew  near,  which,  in  our  county,  affected 
my  father  first  of  all.  His  public  life  had 
consumed  all  his  means  as  well  as  all  his 
interest. 

I  realised  now  that  the  future  for  me  would 
not  hold  the  realisation  of  my  personal  dreams 
of  a  'Folk-high school'  in  our  parish,  but  that 
my  work  would  be  wherever  I  best  could 
earn  my  livelihood." 

Ellen  Key  has  expressed  herself  so  discreetly 
in  regard  to  the  radical  change  in  the  life  of 
her  family  and  herself,  that  it  would  be  un- 
seemly for  a  biographer  to  dwell  upon  the 
feelings  of  sorrow  and  regret. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  year  1880,  the  sepa- 

64 


Work  65 

ration  from  the  home  took  place,  and  Ellen 
lived  in  the  city,  except  for  Christmas  and 
simimer  vacations.  The  peace  and  quiet  of 
country  life  had  to  be  given  up  for  the  greater 
part  of  the  year,  and  the  noise  and  confusion 
of  a  great  city,  so  unattractive  to  her,  took 
its  place.  Formerly  she  had  only  spent  a  part 
of  each  winter  in  the  city. 

Ellen  had  not  then  heard  of  Ruskin  and  his 
revolt,  later  so  well  known,  against  cities  and 
industry,  but,  in  her  romantic  individualism 
she,  like  him,  raged  against  Stockholm  and 
city  life  in  general,  factories  and  railroads; 
and  was  not  at  all  understood  in  this  by  her 
Stockholm  friends.  She  never  learned  to  feel 
at  home  in  Stockholm,  though  she  lived 
there  thirty  years.  She  never  spoke  of  "going 
home"  when  she  returned  there.  Her  sorrow 
at  leaving  Sundsholm  woke  afresh  every  fall. 
She  herself  says  that  she  would  very  likely 
never  have  done  an5rthing  but  remain  there 
and  work  for  the  peasants,  had  not  the  feeling 
of  duty  as  well  as  the  necessity  of  earning  her 
livelihood  and  helping  her  fam.ily  forced  her 
away. 

Her  vacations  have  always  been  spent  in 
the  country.  Resorts  and  boarding-houses 
she  has  avoided  as  she  would  a  plague.     To 


66  Ellen  Key 

Sundsholm  she  still  went  after  it  had  been 
turned  over  to  a  corporation,  though  managed 
by  her  brother,  and  even  later  when  it  came 
to  have  another  owner,  who,  however,  did  not 
occupy  it,  she  spent  parts  of  every  summer 
there  until  1889.  Since  later  owners  have 
taken  up  their  residence  there,  she  has  never 
wanted  to  return  to  the  old  home  or  see  it 
again. 

She  had  entered  upon  her  thirty-first  year 
when  the  new  life  began  in  which  she  had  to 
make  her  own  way  in  the  world,  without  the 
protection  and  assistance  of  the  home,  with 
nothing  but  the  opportunities  she  could  create 
for  herself.  Many  and  great  were  the  diffi- 
culties she  had  to  overcome,  yet  she  never 
borrowed  a  penny.  She  often  went  without 
sufficient  food.  New  clothes  were  not  to  be 
thought  of.  But  no  one  saw  her  discouraged, 
and  she  never  felt  herself  humiliated.  She 
was  borne  up,  albeit  unconsciously,  during 
these  decades  of  poverty,  by  the  feeling  that 
she  was  one  of  those  whom  exterior  circum- 
stances could  not  degrade. 

Her  principal  field  of  labour  was  education. 
For  several  decades  she  devoted  herself  to 
school  work,  from  the  lowest  stages,  without 
feeling  her  powers  misused.     The  work  was  to 


Work  67 

her  taste,  and  the  children  found  in  her  their 
dearest  and  most  enjoyable  teacher.  Her 
motherliness  showed  her  the  way  to  their 
hearts,  and  the  pupils  all  loved  her. 

Anna  Whitlock's  now  famous  co-educational 
school,  one  of  the  foremost  in  Stockholm,  had 
opened,  a  few  years  previous,  as  a  small  private 
school  for  girls.  In  the  autumn  of  1880, 
Ellen  Key  became  a  teacher  there,  and  also 
lived  with  Anna  Whitlock  until  1884,  when 
she  rented  a  room  of  her  own  on  Villa  Street, 
and  later  a  small  fiat  on  Valhalla  Road,  in 
order  to  be  at  least  near  the  woods. 

Her  pupils,  now  mature  women,  speak  with 
gratitude  and  enthusiasm  of  her  lessons  w^hich 
often  "reached  heights  of  truly  religious  in- 
spiration," as  one  expresses  it.  "She  instilled 
in  us  pure  thoughts  and  high  ideals,"  is  the 
testimony  of  another.  A  third  has  pleasingly 
related  her  reminiscence  of  one  of  the  lessons, 
which,  for  a  special  reason,  became  a  lesson  in 
personal  purity.  ' '  The  hour  was  to  have  been 
devoted  to  a  French  poet,  but  on  her  way  to 
school,  Ellen  Key  had  seen  two  of  her  pupils 
of  the  fifth  class  engaged  in  a  lively  flirtation 
with  a  couple  of  high-school  boys,  therefore 
she  took  the  opportunity  to  speak  on  a  subject 
that  did  not  ordinarily  belong  to  the  school 


68  Ellen  Key 

programme.  She  spoke  of  the  duty  of  the  young 
to  hold  themselves  sacred,  to  keep  their  minds 
pure  and  undefiled  by  the  depravity  which  was 
often  a  consequence  of  the  superficial  and 
insipid  jargon  that  the  young  people  of  oppo- 
site sex  indulged  in.  With  words  aglow  with 
tenderness  and  sincerity,  she  spoke  of  the  duty 
of  the  woman-to-be  to  consider  and  to  concen- 
trate herself  for  the  high  calling  that  awaited 
her,  ...  all  that  which  our  mothers  with 
trembling  hearts  would  have  wished  to  have 
said  to  us,  had  they  been  able,  and  which  our 
other  teachers  did  not  care  to  do,  because  their 
work  was  to  cram  our  brains  with  as  much 
book  knowledge  as  possible  in  the  shortest 
possible  time,  this,  Ellen  Key  gave  us  with  all 
the  generosity  of  her  warm  heart  and  with  the 
full  brilliancy  of  her  eloquence.  To  us,  chits 
of  girls  of  that  horrid  anaemic  age  of  sweet- 
meats and  undigested  knowledge,  she  spoke 
in  such  a  way  that  we  bowed  out  heads  in 
thought  as  well  as  shame.  And  we  experienced 
at  the  same  time  a  certain  feeling  of  pride  that 
we  were  being  treated  as  human  beings — or  as 
if  we  were  expected  to  become  himian  beings. " 
A  fourth  writes  about  Ellen  Key  as  follows: 
"She  was  so  eager  to  form  our  minds  in  the 
right  way,  that  when,  as  once  happened  while 


Work  69 

she  was  reading  to  us  from  Geijer's  prose 
works,  we  were  not  attentive,  she  was  beside 
herself.  She  wanted  us  to  be  sober  and  sensi- 
ble, to  discard  superficiality,  to  learn  to  con- 
centrate our  thoughts  on  one  subject  at  a 
time.  ..." 

It  would  probably  have  been  wiser  to  adopt 
the  school  tone  with  its  stricter  discipline, 
but  Ellen  Key  could  understand  as  little  then 
as  now  the  necessity  for  school  grinding, 
warmly  interested  as  she  herself  always 
was,  and  consequently  some  thoughtless  and 
childish  pupils  wantonly  rejected  the  precious 
pearls  offered.  Moreover,  she  liked  to  see  the 
healthy  playfulness  of  the  young  assert  itself, 
for  she  was,  and  is,  a  child  among  children. 
And  it  is  doubtful  that  the  pearls  could  have 
become  their  own  valued  treasirres  had  they 
been  forced  upon  them  instead  of  being  re- 
ceived by  grateful  hearts.  During  recess,  she 
was  generally  surrounded  by  the  younger 
pupils  who  crowded  upon  her  screaming: 
"Tante  Ellen,  Tante  Ellen!"  until  she  was 
quite  helpless  and  had  to  defend  herself  with 
both  hands.  The  "Tante"  title  was  thrust 
upon  her  by  the  school  custom.  Outside  of 
the  school  she  has  always  been  simply  Ellen 
Key  to  all  children. 


70  Ellen  Key 

Gradually  she  expanded  the  narrow  sphere 
of  the  school,  and  began  to  give  coiirses  in 
history  and  literature  for  young  women,  at 
first  for  a  small  group  belonging  to  Jewish 
families,  among  whose  daughters  she  won 
friends  for  life.  Towards  the  close  of  the  year 
1 890,  the  pupils  had  increased  to  one  hundred 
in  number,  and  came  from  all  classes  of  so- 
ciety, some  from  the  highest  aristocracy,  mar- 
ried as  well  as  unmarried,  many  teachers,  and 
others.  Her  lectures  dealt  with  such  subjects 
as  The  French  Moralists,  The  Salons,  Liter- 
ary Conditions  in  Russia,  The  Italian  Renais- 
sance, America's  Revolutionary  War,  etc. 

A  former  member  of  these  private  courses 
v/rites:  "Through  these  lectures,  which  she 
kept  up  for  a  number  of  years,  Ellen  Key  has 
made  one  of  her  great  contributions  to  our 
cultural  life.  ...  Of  the  many  thousand  times 
she  has  picked  up  a  book  to  read,  I  doubt  if 
she  once  did  so  impurposely,  for,  with  this 
thinker  more  than  with  others,  study  goes 
hand  in  hand  with  development  of  a  personal- 
ity. To  one  who  has  tried  at  all  times  to 
follow  this  development,  every  new  production 
of  hers,  whether  spoken  or  printed  article, 
appears  as  a  firm,  logically  connected  link  in 
her  constantly  broadening  soul  life.     In  small 


ELLEN    KEY    IN    1885. 
FROM   A   PHOTOGRAPH   BY   A.    APELGREN,    STOCKHOLM. 


Work  71 

as  in  large  things  she  scorns  to  occupy  herself 
with  anything  that  has  no  bearing  on  her  inner- 
most nature.  There  is  a  subjectivity  which 
ties  down  thought,  and  shuts  out  vision. 
It  is  that  which  shows  itself  in  small  souls 
in  their  inability  and  unwillingness  to  look 
beyond  themselves.  There  is  another  sub- 
jectivity which  liberates  the  mind  and  gives  a 
seer's  vision,  the  gift  of  certain  great  person- 
alities. .  .  .  This  kind  of  subjectivit}^  is  pecul- 
iar to  the  speakers  and  writers  who  have  the 
greatest  power  over  people,  a  power  which 
is  produced  not  alone  by  the  eloquence  of 
language,  full  freedom  of  thought  or  lyrical 
trend  of  emotion,  or  even  when  these  are 
harmoniously  united,  as  is  the  case  in  Ellen 
Key.  It  is  this  subjectivity  burning  through 
all  her  words  which  moves  one." 

Still  another  writes:  "Ellen  Key  presents 
the  facts  of  history  in  a  manner  which  trans- 
forms the  often  dreaded,  dry  study  of  names 
and  dates  to  a  living  and  fruitful  reality,  which 
takes  hold  of  our  very  being." 

Not  until  in  the  spring  of  1899,  when  her 
literary  work  had  come  to  be  of  great  import- 
ance to  her,  did  she  give  up  her  school  work. 

Since  the  autumn  of  1883,  Ellen  Key  has 


72  Ellen  Key 

realised,  to  some  extent,  the  dream  of  her 
youth,  the  helping  in  the  enlightenment  of  the 
labouring  classes.  In  1880,  a  People's  Insti- 
tute had  been  founded  in  Stockholm  by  Doctor 
Anton  Nystrom,  who  had  taken  the  initiative, 
and  collected  the  means  himself.  Lectures 
on  scientific  and  historic  subjects  are  held 
here  daily.  When  this  Institute  had  been  in 
existence  for  a  couple  of  years,  Ellen  Key 
overcame  her  timidity  to  the  extent  that  she 
sought  an  appointment  there  as  lecturer  in 
the  history  of  Swedish  civilisation.  Her  appli- 
cation was  approved,  and  with  great  trepida- 
tion she  undertook  her  mission.  It  was  one  of 
Ellen  Key's  characteristics  to  avoid  speaking 
of  herself,  and  accordingly  few  people  knew  of 
her  old  longing  for  this  field  of  work.  But,  in 
a  letter,  her  mother  expressed  great  joy  over 
the  fact  that  her  daughter  had  at  last  gained 
an  opportunity  to  contribute  to  the  enlighten- 
ment of  the  masses,  a  duty  which  mother  as 
well  as  daughter  considered  sacred.  Most  un- 
pretentiously, Ellen  Key  asked  us  to  criticise 
her  lectures  during  the  first  winter.  Her 
first  lecture  was  given  at  the  affiliated  branch 
of  the  Institute,  on  a  narrow  little  street  in 
Kungsholmen,  and  was  attended  by  fifteen 
listeners.     But  very  soon  she  had  to  be  trans- 


Work  73 

ferred  to  the  large  hall  of  the  Institute,  which 
seats  four  hundred  and  eighty  people,  and 
during  later  years  even  this  proved  too  small 
for  the  many  who  sought  admission. 

The  only  criticism  to  be  made  of  her  twenty 
years  of  fruitful  service  is  that  her  language 
has  not  always  been  simple  enough  for  the 
audiences  of  the  People's  Institute.  It  is 
difficult  for  her  to  bring  herself  down  to  the 
level  of  the  common  labourer,  but  as  one  lis- 
tener rightly  remarked:  "The  doors  of  the 
People's  Institute  are  open  to  all  whose 
education  has  been  uncompleted,  whether 
through  poverty,  or  the  cares  of  earning  a 
livelihood  and  insufficient  time  for  studies, 
and  these  have  made  up  the  great  audiences 
which  filled  the  hall  during  her  lectures." 
During  later  years  her  lectures  dealt  with 
the  history  of  literature  instead  of  civilisation. 

There  are  those  who  have  followed  her  from 
the  very  beginning.  One  interested  attendant 
pleasantly  expressed  the  thoughts  of  many  in 
the  following  words :  "The  speaker's  descrip- 
tion of  the  life  of  past  ages  is  ahvvays  coloured 
by  richness  of  feeling,  not  by  pathetic  de- 
clamations, coquettish  epigrams,  or  decorative 
phraseology.  Neither  does  she  throw  weights 
stamped    with    prejudice    onto    the    balance 


74  Ellen  Key- 

scales.  Her  delivery  is  ever  marked  by  plastic 
moderation.  Earnest  research,  earnestly  ren- 
dered, fills  full  the  measure  within  the  limits 
of  the  lectures.  One  soon  finds  that  it  is  her 
deep,  human  interest  which  has  brought  her 
to  study  history.  This  interest  is  correlated 
with  her  finely  expressed  indignation  against 
all  kinds  of  injustice  and  oppression." 

What  Ellen  Key  has  meant  to  her  audiences 
was  best  made  evident  when  she  resigned  her 
chair  in  the  People's  Institute.  She  made  her 
farewell  in  a  touching  last  address  which 
ended  with  the  following  words:  "Not  great 
learning  and  many-sided  knowledge  have  I 
been  able  to  give  you.  I  aimed  at  something 
else.  My  endeavour  has  been,  through  litera- 
ture, to  teach  you  of  life,  to  help  you  to  live 
more  richly,  and  to  listen  better  to  the  voices 
of  life  in  song  and  story."  The  audience 
was  strangely  moved  by  what  she  said,  and 
also  by  the  strong  emotion  which  drove  the 
blood  from  her  face  as  she  stood,  framed  by 
flowers,  with  downward  gaze  and  subdued 
voice,  solemnly  and  tenderly  bidding  her 
loved  people  farewell. 

A  labourer  now  came  forward  and  with  a  few 
appropriate  words  unveiled  a  portrait  of  Ellen 
Key,  done  in  pastel  by  the  artist  Hanna  Pauli, 


Work  75 

and  presented  to  the  Institute  by  members  of 
the  audience.  The  founder  of  the  Institute, 
Dr.  Nystrom,  then  expressed  the  deep-felt 
gratitude  of  the  Board  and  the  PubHc  to 
Froken  Ellen  Key,  who  for  a  period  of  twenty 
years  had  been  an  honour  to  the  People's 
Institute. 

That  her  comprehensive  and  graphic  por- 
trayal of  the  phases  of  civilisation  under  dis- 
cussion never  even  suggested  a  divergence 
from  a  high  conception  of  the  significance  of 
morality,  has  been  certified  by  those  who  at- 
tended her  private  as  well  as  her  public 
lectures,  in  spite  of  the  insinuations  to  the 
contrary  that  have  been  noised  abroad.  She 
has  always  warned  against  submission  to 
authoritative  dogma.  She  has  ever  empha- 
sised individual  responsibility  regarding  the 
thoughts  and  events  of  past  ages  just  as 
much  as  towards  the  fluctuating  ideas  and 
occurrences  of  our  own  day. 

The  gatherings   called    "Tolftema"'   may 

'  In  this,  her  one  and  only  "organisation, "  Ellen  Key  has  been 
consistently  true  to  her  hatred  of  all  formality.  The  meetings  of 
"Tolftema"  have  taken  place  regularly  for  more  than  twenty 
years,  without  any  red  tape,  club,  board,  or  statutes,  but  under 
absolute  self-government,  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  concerned. 

Ellen  Key  had  before  taken  part  in  a  similar  movement,  the 
Dressmakers'  Society,  where  she  used  to  entertain  the  members 
once  a  week  with  talks,  recitations,  etc.,  and  here,  as  well  as 


76  Ellen  Key 

also  be  classed  as  educational  work.  It  is 
a  voluntary  gathering  without  statutes,  an 
agreement  between  women  of  the  well-to-do 
class  to  invite  workingwomen  to  their  homes, 
and  through  pleasant  and  helpful  association 
with  them  to  diminish  the  distance  between 
the  classes.  Ellen  Key  had  once  heard  a 
young  working-girl,  say:  "It  is  not  your 
better  food  and  finer  clothes  we  mostly  envy, 
but  it  is  the  many  intellectual  enjoyments 
which  are  so  much  more  within  your  reach 
than  ours. "  This  gave  her  the  idea.  On  the 
1st  of  March,  1892,  she  commenced  to  arrange 
these  socials  with  the  assistance  of  some  friends. 
A  number  of  ladies,  twelve  in  each  group,  took 
turns  in  inviting  to  their  homes  young  women 
employed  in  some  manual  labour,  to  become 
acquainted  with  them  and  thus  bridge  the  gap 
between  the  different  grades  of  society.  The 
journalist  Rene  writes  about  these  social 
gatherings:  "Ellen  Key  also  loves  to  spread 
joy.  Each  and  every  one  who  knows  anything 
at  all  about  her  life  knows  that  though  her 
days  are  crowded  with  serious  work,  study, 
and   research   she   yet  gives  many  hours  to 

through  her  lectures  at  the  People's  Institute,  she  came  in  touch 
with  workingwomen.  But  "Tolfterna"  were  founded  on  the  idea 
of  rmttnal  exchange,  and  that  constituted  their  novelty. 


Work  77 

brighten  the  existence  of  those  who  live  in 
darkness.  .  .  .  Never  have  I  been  so  drawn  to 
Ellen  Key  as  I  was  when  I  saw  her  in  the  midst 
of  that  group  of  pure  willed  young  women,  few 
of  whom  would  have  been  awakened  to  higher 
interests  without  her. "  The  pleasant  friendly 
tone  which  exists  at  the  "Tolfterna"  gather- 
ings, without  condescension  on  one  hand  or 
humility  on  the  other,  is  a  very  splendid  thing 
and  holds  much  of  significance. 

We  have  a  good  description  of  Ellen  Key, 
dating  from  this  period,  by  Hellen  Lindgren, 
lately  deceased,  an  essayist  of  unusual  sensi- 
tiveness :  "In  Ellen  Key  there  are  two  people, 
one  personal,  the  other  quite  impersonal; 
one  extremely  sensitive,  the  other  dryly 
sensible,  almost  matter  of  fact;  one  hot  and 
passionate,  the  other  absolutely  self -controlled. 
This  characteristic  contradiction  may  also 
be  observed  in  her  gently  modulated  voice, 
and  her  very  energetic  mode  of  expression. 
The  smooth,  mmlike  hair,  and  the  generall}^ 
dark,  plain  dress  give  the  impression  of  one 
who  wishes  to  efface  herself,  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  there  is  something  almost  despotic 
in  her  unwillingness  to  yield  in  a  discussion. .  .  . 
From  her  earliest  youth  she  has  been  interested 
in  nature  just  as  much  as  in  books.     With  her 


78  Ellen  Key 

inquisitive  mind  and  eagerness  to  acquire 
knowledge,  she  soon  became  acquainted  with 
the  different  currents  of  thoughts  and  ideas 
of  her  day,  and  in  the  solitude  of  country  life 
the  young  girl  steadily  pursued,  quite  by 
herself,  an  intellectual  education  which  made 
her  mentally  mature  and  spiritually  whole  and 
harmonious,  while  at  the  same  time  she  never 
thought  of  cultiire  as  something  finished  either 
for  herself  or  for  others.  .  .  .  This  quietly 
self-acquired  development  made  her  unfavour- 
ably disposed  toward  the  cramming  system  of 
modem  school  education,  where  the  mental 
food  is  accepted  from  the  teacher  instead  of  the 
pupil  being  obliged  to  overcome  his  own  diffi- 
culties and  to  crack  the  nuts  of  knowledge  with 
his  own  teeth.  Her  sym_pathy  with  natural- 
ness, and  her  antipathy  for  all  ceremoniousness 
were  acquired  by  her  life  in  the  country.  In- 
haling woodland  air  and  philosophy  in  the 
same  breath,  growing  intimate  with  horses 
and  cows,  and  at  the  same  time  becoming 
familiar  with  Shakespeare,  Spencer,  and  Mill, 
she  developed  deep  insight  into  the  life  of 
man  and  nature  and  civilisation  at  large." 

In  the  summer  of  1 890,  Ellen  Key  made  a  trip 
to  Paris  and  Rouen,  again  to  visit  her  child- 


Work  79 

hood  friend,  and  to  Bavaria,  where  she  stayed 
with  her  friends,  Herr  and  Frau  von  Vollmar. 
She  tramped  through  Oberbayem  and  attended 
the  Passion-play  in  Oberammergau.  In  Verk 
och  Mdnniskor^  she  has  given  so  vivid  a 
description  of  the  Bavarian  highlands  that 
one  is  carried  along,  seeming  to  see  it  all  in 
reality.  Her  portrayal  of  the  people  and  of 
the  scenery  reveals  a  master's  touch,  and  with 
the  wide-awake  vision  and  historical  sensitive- 
ness of  one  interested  in  every  phase  of  human 
progress  she  observes  the  connection  between 
the  remarkable  plays  and  the  national  dis- 
position. All  that  her  eye  has  seen  and  her 
fine  ear  heard,  she  has  wished  to  share  with 
us.  Each  time  Ellen  Key  has  had  the  good 
fortune  to  travel  abroad  in  the  greater  coun- 
tries of  culture,  she  has,  on  her  arrival  home, 
in  one  way  or  another  divided  with  us  the 
treasures  she  has  gathered.  Through  living 
descriptions  of  places  and  personalities  she 
has  furthered  instruction  and  given  pleasure, 
hence  we  have  joyfully  anticipated  each  new 
work  of  her  pen.  Her  portrayals  of  the  Passion- 
play  at  Oberammergau  belong  to  the  very  best 
of  the  many  she  has  given  us.  She  begins 
with  a  genial  interpretation  of  the  meaning 

'  "  Men  and  Works. " 


8o  Ellen  Key 

of  the  cross  as  a  symbol  of  nobly  borne  sorrow, 
and  then  sums  up  the  impressions  of  the  Play 
thus :  * '  The  Past  as  well  as  the  Present  conveys 
to  us  the  assurance  that  the  highest  in  every 
age  is  submerged  uncomprehended  by  the 
majority.  The  life-renewing  truth  is  always 
trampled  under  foot  by  the  established  order 
...  It  is  not  by  the  cross  that  men  have 
learned  to  live;  but  by  the  cross  they  have 
learned  to  suffer — and  as  long  as  living  means 
SUFFERING  for  the  majority,  crosses  are  likely 
to  remain  on  heights  and  in  valleys." 

Various  motives  have  led  our  steps  to  Ober- 
ammergau;  love  of  travel,  curiosity,  and  the 
desire,  on  the  part  of  literary  tourists,  for 
something  new  wherewith  to  fill  some  columns 
in  the  papers.  On  the  one  hand  cold  feelings 
and  pretty  words,  on  the  other  hand  the  need 
of  the  devout  childish  soul  for  strength  and 
solace  in  the  struggle  and  want  of  earthly 
life.  Between  these  two  extremes  we  have 
Ellen  Key's  view  of  the  scenes  presented. 
From  the  Campanile  of  liberal  thought  she 
sounds  her  bells.  They  summon  us  to  wor- 
ship before  the  crucifixion  of  the  innocent,  to 
abhorrence  before  the  victory  of  unrighteous- 
ness. In  religious  ecstasy  she  kneels  before 
the  mystery  of  sacrifice. 


CHAPTER  VI 

PUBLIC  ACTIVITY 

BESIDES  the  very  confining  and  regular 
work  at  the  school,  and  her  private  and 
public  lecture  courses,  Ellen  Key  has  been 
greatly  in  demand  as  a  speaker  before  various 
Women's  Societies,  Student  Fraternities,  Tem- 
perance Leagues  and  Labour,  Unions  in  Stock- 
holm, Gothembourg,  Christiania,  Copenhagen, 
Helsingfors,  as  well  as  smaller  towns  in  Sweden. 
Even  as  early  as  1880,  in  Stockholm,  we  find 
her  giving  addresses  on  different  subjects. 
Without  pecuniary  reward,  she  generously 
lavished  her  energy  to  further  enlightenment, 
to  collect  means  for  treasuries,  for  agitation, 
for  this  or  that  piu*pose.  She  has  especially 
laboured  for  workingmen,  women,  and  child- 
ren. When  engaged  to  speak  in  other  cities 
she  has  always  given  one  or  more  free  lectures. 
This  is  much  more  remarkable  since  she  is  a 
popular  speaker  and  fills  to  the  last  seat  every 
hall  in  which  she  speaks.  Her ' '  self-realisation ' ' 
has  been  to  give  to  others  what  they  other- 

81 


82  Ellen  Key 

wise  would  have  lacked,  to  awaken  slumbering 
talents,  to  make  life  richer  for  those  who  labour 
and  sacrifice,  to  give  them  holiday-moments. 
She  has  seldom  spoken  on  political  questions, 
or  discussed  married  women's  legal  position. 
Generally  her  subject  has  been  some  great 
personality,  art,  or  literature  or  other  cultural 
themes. 

We  have  spoken  before  of  Ellen  Key's  shy 
and  reserved  nature  and  her  lack  of  self- 
confidence.  Her  family  was  greatly  surprised 
at  Ellen's  psychological  turn  when,  in.  spite 
of  this  shyness,  she  finally  learned  to  speak 
in  public.  Now,  her  name  has  long  resounded 
throughout  our  country  and  neighbouring 
lands,  as  well  as  farther  abroad,  by  reason  of 
her  power  as  a  public  speaker.  Once,  many 
years  ago,  when  she  had  forgotten  her  manu- 
script, and  was  forced  to  speak  without  it, 
she  found  she  could  do  better  thus,  and  since 
then  she  generally  jots  down  only  the  principal 
points,  finding  the  right  words  easily  at  the 
time  of  speaking.  Under  the  circumstance 
it  is  but  natural  that  a  too  hasty  expression 
may  find  utterance,  but  this  happens,  however, 
very  seldom.  Her  extempore  speaking  in- 
stead of  reading  makes  her  lectures  very  vivid 
and  magnetic. 


Public  Activity  83 

It  has  been  rumoured  that  she  has  studied 
expression  and  oratory,  but  such  has  not  been 
the  case.  She  is,  as  Oscar  Levertin  once  wrote, 
"a  bom  orator."  When  she  enters  a  lecture 
room  there  is  something  of  the  priestess  about 
her,  and  by  the  time  she  has  reached  her 
place  on  the  platform,  such  absolute  silence 
reigns  that  one  would  think  oneself  alone,  did 
not  the  sight  of  the  crowded  hall  convince 
one  that  the  silence  is  but  an  expression  of 
the  great  respect  with  which  the  lecturer  is 
greeted.  Her  first  words  are  uttered  so  low 
that  one  hears  them  with  a  slight  effort,  but 
the  silence  in  the  room  sharpens  the  hearing, 
and  without  raising  her  voice,  her  words 
reach  the  farthest  comers.  By  the  rich  con- 
tent and  brilliant  delivery  of  her  lectures  she 
keeps  her  audience  spell-bound,  even  when 
the  discourse  lasts  for  a  couple  of  hours. 
Again  to  quote  Oscar  Levertin:  "What  we 
love  in  Ellen  Key  is  her  pure,  noble  will,  and 
her  shining  courage,  the  fresh  and  impulsive 
frankness  of  her  personality,  the  all-embracing 
tenderness  of  her  nature  which  lends  her  words 
the  fruitful,  joyous  fulness  of  the  summer. " 

This  is  especially  true  in  regard  to  her  effect 
on  an  audience.  The  same  writer  counts  her 
one  of  those  "whom  nature  has  created  after 


84  Ellen  Key- 

its  own  image,  with  a  fertile  chaos  of  thoughts, 
moods,  and  inspirations.  They  awaken  and 
warm  us,  they  fascinate  by  the  multiplicity 
of  view-points,  by  the  fire  and  glow  of  tempera- 
ment and  the  enthusiastic  manner  of  expres- 
sion. Nothing  is  easier  than  to  point  out 
inconsistencies,  exaggerations,  and  contradic- 
tions in  such  natures,  but,  at  the  same  time, 
nothing  is  more  vain  than  to  imagine  with  such 
criticism  to  have  sounded  the  depths  of  their 
spirit.  . . .  Cold-blooded  criticism  cannot  efface 
the  living  impression  of  the  burning  sincerity 
of  their  intentions  or  the  music  of  their  words. " 

As  her  lectures  have  generally  been  pub- 
lished in  book  form_,  their  contents  will  be 
treated  in  the  chapter  that  deals  with  her 
authorship.  They  have  usually  been  con- 
sidered at  length  in  the  press.  Enthusiastic 
praise  and  bitter  abuse  have  crossed  swords 
about  her  ever  since  1889,  and  thus  it  is  likely 
to  be,  as  long  as  she  appears  before  the  public. 

In  some  people's  imagination  Ellen  Key  is 
pictured  as  worldly  and  ambitious,  eager  for 
activity,  desirous  of  a  following.  Nothing 
could  be  farther  from  the  truth.  The  de- 
velopment of  her  feeling  of  duty,  the  broaden- 
ing out  of  sympathy  for  her  fellow-men,  for 
their  needs  and  sufferings,  are  the  results  of 


Public  Activity  85 

her  having  learned  to  overcome  her  inborn 
disposition  whose  deepest  indination  was  to 
sink  back  into  her  own  world  of  nature,  books, 
feelings,  and  dreams, — an  inclination  which 
she  has  called  her  "temptation." 

One  of  her  intimate  friends  once  said: 
"Ellen  Key  could  never  have  broken  away 
from  romanticism  by  intellectual  or  aesthetic 
processes.  Only  the  ethical  power  in  her  nature 
could  liberate  her."  This  remark  is  deeply 
true. 

In  the  fall  of  1884,  when  Ellen  returned  to 
Stockholm  to  take  up  her  work  at  the  school 
and  Institute,  her  mother  had  recently  passed 
away,  and  she  was  very  sad.  At  her  mother's 
death-bed,  she  had  tested  her  own  position 
in  regard  to  a  belief  in  immortality.  In 
speaking  to  a  friend  she  said:  "I  felt  there, 
that  it  would  not  be  so  hard  to  die  without 
hope  of  immortality, — to  live  without  it  is 
harder. 

There  now  followed  some  years  of  deep 
personal  experiences,  new  joys,  and  bitter 
sorrows.  For  years,  her  life  seemed  so  value- 
less to  her  that  she  was  tempted  to  do  away 
with  herself,  but  this  personal  crisis  had 
decisive  consequences  in  that  it  strengthened 


86  Ellen  Key 

her  resolve  to  live  in  service  for  others,  and 
thus  forget  her  own  fate.  Indignation  over 
what  she  felt  to  be  unrighteousness  braced 
her,  turned  her  away  from  herself,  and  brought 
her  into  the  battle  in  public  life.  Up  to  that 
time,  Ellen  Key  had  commanded  unqualified 
admiration  and  popularity  among  young  and 
old  on  all  sides.  Moderate  and  considerate, 
she  had  provoked  no  one.  Her  activities 
had  so  far  been  confined  to  the  calmer  edu- 
cational work.  But  from  the  winter  of  1889 
Ellen  Key  entered  upon  a  new  era  in  her  life. 
Development  and  liberation  of  the  personal- 
ity is  the  goal  toward  which  she  aims  all  her 
efforts.  Her  lectures  and  writings  in  general 
have  always  virtually  had  this  object  in  view. 
She  calls  attention  to  the  interaction  that 
takes  place  between  man's  ascent  to  an  ever 
higher  development,  and  his  liberation  from 
prejudices  based  on  law-paragraphs.  The 
greater  the  demands  man  puts  on  himself, 
the  less  need  has  society  for  dealing  with  him 
by  prohibitions  and  punishments,  and  the 
fewer  these  become,  the  sooner  will  arise  the 
ethnical  and  intellectual  harbinger  of  civili- 
sation, the  individual.  With  burning  zeal 
Ellen  Key  preaches  her  gospel,  counselling 
each  and  every  one  to  consider  the  right  and 


Public  Activity  87 

significance  of  the  personality  in  all  human 
relations. 

She  proclaims  the  rights  of  the  child,  of 
parents,  of  man  and  woman,  of  superiors  and 
inferiors.  Aye,  no  one  is  forgotten.  She 
speaks  to  all,  and  for  all,  yet  most  warmly 
for  the  oppressed  to  whatever  class  he  may 
belong.  She  knows  that  the  personaHty  may  ^ 
be  oppressed  in  the  home  as  in  the  state,  in 
the  narrower  sphere  of  the  family  as  well  as 
in  the  broader  sphere  of  society. 

The  theory  of  evolution  had  found  its  way 
to  the  north,  and,  in  the  eighties,  there  were  a 
number  of  able  young  apostles  in  our  country 
who  zealously  preached  its  doctrines.  In 
optimistic  carelessness  they  threw  away  much 
that  was  of  value.  It  is  true  that  much  of  the 
old  was  tainted,  and  had  poisoned  the  air. 
Wishing  to  purif}-  the  atmosphere,  they  were 
not  chary  when  it  came  to  discarding  or  keep- 
ing what,  in  their  opinion,  was  obsolete. 
Older  conceptions  of  morality,  as,  for  instance 
the  dogmas  of  the  State  church,  were  assailed, 
and  the  battle  waxed  hot.  When  the  young 
voices  would  not  be  silenced,  and  the  reac- 
tionary representatives  found  the  time  ripe 
for  chastising  the  "daredevils"  who,  for  the 


88  Ellen  Key 

last  decade,  from  platform  and  press,  had 
rashly  attacked  "the  good  old  order,"  had 
dared  to  disturb  the  "established  status" 
and  proposed  radical  social  transformations, 
an  old  legal  statute,  with  imprisonment  for 
blasphemy  against  God,  was  invoked.  For 
months  the  prison  gates  were  closed  upon  a 
number  of  Swedish  citizens  who  had  been 
found  guilty  of  this  offence.  The  persecution 
of  advocates  of  the  new  ideas  became  general 
on  the  part  of  those  who  were  in  authority. 
Scholarships  were  withdrawn  from  young 
students  at  academies  on  account  of  their 
"heretical"  views.  And  many  other  things 
happened,  both  within  family  circles  and  in 
the  community,  which  made  it  evident  that 
the  reactionaries  ruled. 

A  long  time  had  passed  since  the  statute 
dealing  with  "blasphemy  against  God"  had 
been  applied.  In  the  year  1850,  so  little  pro- 
gress had  been  made  in  the  revision  of  laws  that 
a  prosecutor  demanded  that  F.  Th.  Borg,  the 
"criminal,"  the  great  champion  of  liberty 
and  truth,  be  sentenced  according  to  Act  I, 
Sec.  I,  Criminal  Code,  with  capital  punish- 
ment for  blasphemy  against  God.  He  was 
finally  acquitted.  That  Borg  later  was  twice 
elected  a  member  of  the  First  Chamber,  though 


Public  Activity  S9 

his  views  never  changed,  is  a  fact  which  might 
have  taught  us  something  had  we  been  in- 
cHned  to  learn. 

In  1884,  August  Strindberg  had  been  in- 
dicted for  offending  against  the  same  law.  But 
when  the  jury  acquitted  him  it  was  thought 
that  the  antiquated  statute  could  not  be 
applied  in  our  day.  But  in  the  year  1889,  it 
was  not  enough  that  those  indicted  were 
found  guilty  by  the  jury  but,  what  was  worse, 
many,  of  whom  one  had  the  right  to  expect 
more  enlightened  views,  approved  the  verdict. 
Here  and  there  a  voice  uttered  feeble  protests, 
through  the  medium  of  the  daily  press,  express- 
ing amazement  and  indignation,  but  on  the 
whole  the  silence  which  reigned  was  as  great 
outside  as  inside  the  prison  walls. 

"At  this  time  of  political  dearth  and  in- 
difference," to  quote  Elna  Tenow  in  her 
sketch  of  Ellen  Key,  "where  friend  no  longer 
knew  friend,  and  science  extended  a  brotherly 
hand  to  superstition — when  the  banners  of 
freedom  of  thought  and  speech  drooped,  a 
calm  and  controlled  voice  pierced  the  oppres- 
sive silence." 

It  was  Emil  Key's  daughter  who  with  digni- 
fied courage  and  humane  justice  appeared 
before  the  Swedish   people.     Equipped   with 


90  Ellen  Key 

political  and  historical  knowledge,  she  warned 
against  the  base  tyranny  that  manifested 
itself  in  the  brutal  arrest  of  four  young  men 
because  they,  in  the  excitement  of  battle,  had 
not  considered  the  form,  while  similar  views 
had  been  expressed  with  impunity  by  others 
who  had  better  understood  how  to  clothe 
them  in  scientific  and  philosophic  language. 

Called  to  speak  before  the  Liberal  Woman's 
League  in  Gothenburg,  she  gave  an  address  on 
"How  Reactions  Arise,"  which  was  repeated 
subsequently  in  Stockholm.  And  at  the  in- 
vitation of  the  Student  Society  "Verdandi," 
she  introduced  a  discussion  at  a  public  meet- 
ing in  Upsala  the  same  year  on  the  "Freedom 
of  the  Press  and  Free  Speech."  The  dis- 
course was  soon  afterwards  issued  as  a 
brochure. 

She  reiterated  in  modern  language  Talis 
Qualis"  woe  over  those  ' '  who  purposely  wound 
the  lung  in  the  broad  breast  of  the  public," 
the  lung  being  for  her,  as  for  him,  free  speech. 

She  turned  to  the  legal  statutes  and  showed 
them  to  be  in  conflict  with  the  law  of  progress. 
She  cried  aloud  that  it  is  in  direct  opposition 
to  the  civilisation  of  our  day  that  spiritual 

'  The  nom  de  plume  of  C.  W.  A.  Strandberg,  a  Swedish  writer 
and  poet. — Translator's  footnote. 


Public  Activity  91 

battles  be  fought  with  other  than  spiritual 
weapons.  She  did  not  defend  the  manner  in 
which  the  condemned  had  proclaimed  their 
views;  she  severely  censured  all  classes  of 
society.  And,  though  her  sympathy,  on  this 
as  on  all  occasions,  was  with  youth,  she  bade 
them  realise  that  the  advance  party,  which  they 
represented,  must  learn  to  choose  weapons 
and  rightly  use  them  or  shoulder  the  seri- 
ous responsibility  for  causing  reactions  to 
arise.  "Our  own  faults  and  mistakes  are  in 
the  long  run  the  only  dangerous  enemies  to 
our  cause." 

Sharp  attacks  were  made  on  Ellen  Key 
through  the  press.  Many  who  had  hitherto 
been  on  her  side  now  turned  from  her.  But  no- 
thing disturbed  her  assurance  of  having  acted 
right.  Now  first  did  we  become  acquainted 
with  her  strong  personality,  her  passion  for 
justice  which  since  childhood  had  inspired  her 
with  an  obdurate  courage  to  defend,  and  from 
this  time  on  made  itself  more  and  more  felt. 

Ellen  Key's  words  resounded  through  the 
whole  land.  Her  brave  stand  for  the  cause 
of  justice  gave  her  a  prominent  place  among 
persons  holding  similar  views,  but  lacking  her 
courage,  and  perhaps  also  her  knowledge  and 
genius. 


92  Ellen  Key 

By  hard  work  for  her  own  economic  inde- 
pendence and  to  help  her  family,  she  resisted 
her  nattiral  disposition  for  contemplation  and 
solitude.  Having  so  far  conquered  that  she 
was  able  to  express  her  thoughts,  she  was 
moved  by  pity  for  the  suffering  of  others  to 
become  their  interpreter.  Her  decidedly 
ethical  personality  threw  off  the  fetters  that 
were  a  hindrance  on  the  road  which  seemed  to 
her  the  only  right  one.  Her  action  in  de- 
fending those  who  were  on  trial  for  blasphemy 
caused  her  to  be  proposed  as  candidate  for  the 
Folk-Riksdag.  But,  thinking  herself  unsuited 
for  practical  politics,  she  refused  to  accept  the 
candidacy.  With  a  well-nigh  imperturbable 
consistency  she  has  resolutely  held  herself 
aloof  from  public  discussions  and  congresses, 
heedless  of  the  numberless  opportunities  thus 
offered  her  for  expressing  her  opinions.  Only 
when  forced  by  a  deep  inner  conviction  has 
she  come  forward,  alone,  and  independent  of 
parties. 

We  have  mentioned  that  Ellen  Key,  urged 
by  Fru  Adlersparre,  first  began  to  write 
original  articles,  under  the  signature  E-N,  in 
Tidskrift  for  H emmet,  where  they  at  once 
attracted   attention.     Her  first  article  dealt 


Public  Activity  93 

with  Camilla  Collett,  and  was  published  in  1874. 
Then  followed  literary  and  critical  reviews  and 
biographical  studies  of  English  women  writers, 
all  treated  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  highest 
idealism,  especially  as  touching  upon  love  and 
marriage. 

Shortly  after  the  publication  of  her  first 
book,  How  Reactions  Arise,  in  1889,  another 
book  appeared.  The  unfortunate  Ernst  Ahl- 
gren'  had  recently  ended  her  life,  and,  bound 
to  her  by  the  ties  of  friendship  and  sympathy, 
Ellen  Key  wrote  her  monograph,  the  sad  story 
of  one  who  "meets  death  on  every  path,"  the 
desire  for  life  having  been  quenched  by  thoughts 
of  death,  unsatisfied  life-needs  annihilating 
the  struggling,  yearning,  highly  gifted  woman 
and  author. 

Shortly  afterward  Ellen  Key  suffered  other 
grievous  losses.  Two  friends  intimately  asso- 
ciated with  her  since  1880,  when  her  circle 
gradually  had  become  that  of  the  literary  and 
artistic  Vdnstern,^  were  stricken  by  death  in 
their  best  years, — Sonja  Kowalewsky,  who  died 
in  1 89 1,  and  Anne  Charlotte  LcfQer,  Duchessa 
di  Cajanello  in   1892.     On  New  Year's  Eve 

'  Nom  de  plume  of  Victoria  Benedictsson,  a  Swedish  writer. 
— Translator's  footnote. 

'  Left,  the  Liberals,  as  against  the  Right,  the  Conservatives. 
— Translator's  footnote. 


94  Ellen  Key 

of  the  same  year,  she  had  been  present  at  her 
father's  death  in  her  married  sister's  home  in 
Visb3^  where  he  had  been  cared  for  ever  since 
his  illness  enforced  his  leave  of  absence  from 
Helsingborg.  Crossing  the  sea,  one  night,  in 
a  snow-storm,  she  brought  her  father's  remains 
to  the  grave  of  her  mother  in  Vestervik's 
cemetery,  the  only  plot  of  earth  in  the  beloved 
home  parish  to  which  she  henceforth  had 
proprietary  rights. 

With  such  deep  personal  experiences  of  the 
presence  of  death,  causes  for  sober  reflection 
have  not  been  lacking  in  Ellen  Key's  life. 
The  actual  passing  away  of  her  father  was 
perhaps  not  so  bitter  a  blow,  since  the  paraly- 
tic stroke  some  years  previously  had  left  him 
mentally  incapacitated.  But  the  loss  of  her 
two  friends  shook  her  profoundly.  Through 
them,  Stockholm  had  been  touched  as  it  were 
by  a  fresh  breeze  from  the  great  world,  and 
this  had  been  especially  exhilarating  to  Ellen 
Key.  At  this  early  date,  she  had  as  yet  had 
little  opportunity  for  studying  places  and 
conditions  abroad  such  as  later  offered  during 
her  prolonged  visits  to  foreign  lands  when,  as 
a  famous  author  and  admired  personality, 
she  was  the  honoured  guest  in  private  homes, 
such  as  rarely  open  their  doors  to  foreigners. 


Public  Activity  95 

The  death  of  Sonja  Kowalewsky,  who,  in 
later  years,  after  Anne  Charlotte  Leffler  had 
left  Stockholm,  had  attached  herself  to  Ellen 
Key  with  tenderer  intimacy,  was  felt  severely 
by  the  latter.  Together  with  a  friend  she 
had  nursed  Sonja  Kowalewsky  during  her 
last  illness,  and  immediately  upon  her  demise 
she  wrote  her  obituary  which,  though  short, 
was  rich  in  content  and  caused  us  in  the 
north  to  realise  what  she  had  been. 

Of  Sonja  Kowalewsky's  life-work  we  were, 
of  course,  not  ignorant.  What  science  and 
literature  lost  through  her  death  was  well 
known,  and  the  daily  press,  national  and 
foreign,  informed  us  thereof.  But  those  who 
considered  womanly  qualities  of  prime  im.- 
portance  now  learned  also  that  the  world 
had  lost  a  true  woman,  one  who  "though  she 
was  the  most  celebrated  woman-scientist  of 
the  century,  and  perhaps  of  all  time,  counted 
neither  science,  literature,  nor  fame  as  the 
central  thing  in  life.  For  her,  the  heart  was 
the  fountain  of  life. " 

This  character  sketch  was  later  completed 
by  a  fuller  mention  and  genial  comprehension 
of  Sonja  Kowalewsky's  remarkable  and  com- 
plex personality  and  strange  life  in  the  bio- 
graphy of  Anne  Charlotte  Leffler  which  Ellen 


96  Ellen  Key 

Key  wrote  upon  her  death,  and  where,  in 
loving  memory  of  these  two  friends,  she  gives 
a  keen  interpretation  of  their  different  temper- 
aments, and  throws  new  Hght  upon  their 
characters.'  In  the  fates  of  these  women, 
Ellen  Key  saw  fresh  proof  of  her  oft-expressed 
contention  that  for  the  womanly  woman  the 
heart-life  is  the  central  thing. 

The  book,  Anne  Charlotte  Leffler,  Duchessa 
di  Cajanello,  Some  Biographical  Notes,  contains, 
in  spite  of  its  modest  title,  a  masterly  char- 
acterisation of  her  personality,  and  the  reader 
is  also  introduced  to  Sweden's  hterary  world 
of  1 880.  The  book  was  translated  into  Danish, 
German,  and  Russian,  and  judged  by  the  fore- 
most critics  as  an  exemplary  biography.  In 
this  work  we  get  a  good  insight  into  the  author's 
own  personality,  and  we  may  well  agree  with 
a  re\'iewer  that  "with  her  ingrained  unsel- 
fishness which  never  denies  itself,  she  simply 
and  unaffectedly  avoids  introducing  herself  to 
the  reader  though  she  makes  the  third,  and 
not  the  least  prominent,  in  this  trio  of  friend- 
ship   and    genius."     George    Brandes    gives 

'  The  sketch  of  Sonja  Kowalewsky  as  well  as  the  biographies 
of  Victoria  Benedictsson  (Ernst  Ahlgren)  and  Anne  Charlotte 
Leflfler  have  been  published  in  one  volume  in  Germany  under  the 
title  of  Drei  Frauenschicksale. 


Public  Activity  97 

Ellen  Key  a  unique  place  as  woman  psycholo- 
gist and  critic. '  Quoting  her  pertinent  phrase 
that  Anne  Charlotte  was  the  bread  and  Sonja 
the  wine  at  their  spiritual  banquets,  he 
remarks  that  "in  Ellen  Key's  nature  neither 
bread  nor  wine  is  lacking." 

A  longer  dissertation  by  Eva  Fryxell  in 
Svensk  Tidskrift  (Swedish  periodical),  in  1893, 
in  which  the  deceased  writers  were  attacked 
from  the  standpoint  of  Christian  idealism, 
gave  rise  to  a  rather  remarkable  controversy. 
In  her  biography  of  Anne  Charlotte  Lefifler, 
Ellen  Key  had  stated  that  the  three  authors, 
Ernst  Ahlgren,  Sonja  Kowalewsky,  and  Anne 
Charlotte  Leffler,  and  other  contemporaries 
gradually  withdrew  their  sympathies  from  the 
aims  of  the  woman  emancipation  movement. 
The  one-sidedness  which  Ellen  Key  had  al- 


»  Not  all  critics  thought  thus.  In  Dagny,  the  woman  suffrage 
organ,  there  appeared  a  crushing  review  where  nothing  was 
found  creditable.  The  total  impression  was  summed  up  as  fol- 
lows: "Miss  Key's  book  boasts  the  stamp  of  frankness,  but  we 
are  struck  by  its  lack  of  veracity  and  loyalty."  The  book  was 
simultaneously  reviewed  in  the  Danish  periodical,  Kvinden  og 
Samfundet  (Woman  and  Community),  where  an  especially 
laudatory  article  by  Magdalena  Thoreson  ended  with  the  following 
words:  "Wherever  the  woman  movement  makes  its  righteous 
progress  in  the  north,  honour  and  gratitude  should  be  shown  Ellen 
Key  for  her  noble  work."  Thus  differently  was  the  same  book 
judged  by  woman  suffrage  journals  on  each  side  of  the  Sound. 
7 


98  Ellen  Key 

ways  deplored  in  the  equal-rights  women  she 
here  assailed  anew  in  her  own  name,  as  well 
as  in  behalf  of  her  deceased  friends.  What 
was  more  natural  than  that  some  one  from  the 
opposite  camp  should  turn  to  combat  the 
opinions  she  expressed  which  also  dealt  with 
such  dangerous  subjects  as  love,  marriage,  and 
religion  ?  Under  the  heading  '  *  Women-Author 
Types  of  the  Naturalistic  Trend  in  the 
Eighties,"  Eva  Fryxell  had  attacked  the  three 
representatives  of  the  thoughts  and  views  of 
large  groups  of  highly  intelligent  people,  espe- 
cially for  their  conception  of  true  womanliness, 
family  life,  and  woman's  position  in  the  home. 
And  in  several  issues  of  the  same  periodical 
Ellen  Key  and  her  friends  were  charged  with 
harbouring  immoral  tendencies. 

Ellen  Key  was  not  slow  to  reply.  From 
their  opposite  camps  the  conflicting  theories 
of  life,  Christianity  on  the  one  hand,  evolu- 
tion on  the  other,  strove  against  each  other. 
Ellen  Key's  final  remarks  in  this  controversy 
may  be  found  in  somewhat  revised  form 
in  Tankebilder  I  {Images  of  Thought)  (see 
"Self -Assertion"  and  "Self -Renunciation"). 
Already  in  her  early  youth  Ellen  Key  had 
found  the  Christian  ideal  irreconcilable  with 
life.     Little  by  little  she  fought  her  way  to 


Public  Activity  99 

the  philosophy  of  life  which  has  since  been 
her  own.  With  clear  logic  and  dignified  lan- 
guage she  states  her  position  in  regard  to  the 
Christian  doctrine,  and  the  reasons  which  led 
her  to  a  point  of  view  in  which  every  depart- 
ment of  human  life  may  be  arranged  under 
the  laws  of  evolution.  The  seriousness  of  the 
struggle  during  the  "decade  of  hard-won  de- 
velopment," of  which  she  speaks  in  her  preface 
to  Tankebilder,  is  here  made  clear  to  us. 

Ellen  Key  may  be  said  to  be  an  interpreter 
of  the  thoughts  and  experiences  of  a  great 
many,  especially  of  those  who  have  wanted  to 
take  Christianity  seriously,  who,  like  her,  have 
fought  the  battle  of  faith,  and  made  fearful 
by  a  tender  conscience,  have  sought  in  vain  to 
hold  intelligence  in  obedience  to  faith.  And 
these  can  appreciate  the  worth  of  the  clear, 
simple,  and,  at  the  same  time,  sublime  argu- 
ment by  which  Ellen  Key  demonstrates  the 
impossibility  of  a  complete  following  of  Jesus 
for  society  at  large  as  well  as  for  the  individual, 
unless  "compromise  blunt  the  sword-point 
which  Jesus  thrust,  sharp  and  naked,  at  every 
conscience."  Those  who  remain  sincere  be- 
lievers, comfort  themselves  in  this  bitter 
struggle  with  the  thought  that  this  impossibil- 
ity belongs  to  the  imperfection  of  earthly  life. 


loo  Ellen  Key 

Those  who  call  themselves  Christians  construe 
the  Bible  as  best  they  can  to  prove  their 
superficial  Christianity  to  be  real. 

Ellen  Key  observes  how  Christianity's  line 
of  defence  varies  from  age  to  age.  "Less  is 
now  said  of  the  God-Man,  the  atonement  for 
the  sin  of  the  world.  Instead  we  hear  much 
of  the  personification  of  the  ideal  of  Love. 
On  our  relation  to  him  depends,  not  our 
eternal  bliss — eternal  woe  is  one  of  those 
'imperishable  truths'  now  antiquated — but 
our  part  in  the  religious  and  ethical  force  which 
alone  is  able  to  transform  the  heart  and  deliver 
it  from  sin  and  especially  selfishness."  With 
relentless  logic,  she  proceeds  to  set  forth  the 
manifold  contradictions  between  the  life  we 
live  and  the  dictates  of  Christianity,  which 
daily  cause  twinges  of  conscience,  unless  it 
becomes  a  matter  of  dull  habit  to  take  these 
contradictions  for  granted.  She  gives  a  his- 
toric resume  of  the  development  of  religion 
and  puts  Protestantism  in  its  proper  historic 
place.  "Christianity  as  a  religion  reached  its 
old  age  in  the  Reformation.  .  . .  Protestantism 
ushered  in  the  vacillating  system  of  bargaining 
with  the  Christian  ideals,  which  shows  its 
influence  on  all  departments  of  life,  family, 
state,   art,  literature,  science  which  one  has 


Public  Activity  loi 

wanted  half  freed  from  Christianity  and  half 
sanctified  by  it. .  .  .  The  sovereign  right  of  the 
individual  conscience  to  decide  in  matters  of 
faith  and  moraHty  has  continued.  It  has 
done  its  part  in  shaping  our  whole  democratic 
century,  politically  as  well  as  religiously. 
Its  inner  tendency  a  thinker  has  pertinently 
expressed  as  pantheistic,  as  a  striving  to  break 
down  the  boundaries  first  between  man  and 
nature,  and  finally  between  man  and  God. 
And  this  belief  in  the  oneness  of  man  and 
nature,  the  obedience  to  law  in  all  that  happens 
is  Monism." 

After  bravely  and  solemnly  explaining  why 
she  could  no  longer  bear  the  name  of  Christian 
and  that  the  Christian  faith  with  her  had  given 
place  to  Monism,  we  understand  that,  when 
we  read  her  words,  we  must  proceed  on  the 
assumption  that  it  is  from  the  point  of  view 
of  this  philosophy  that  Ellen  Key  judges 
events,  builds  up  propositions,  proves  asser- 
tions, and  founds  hopes.  It  was  from  Spinoza 
and  Goethe  that  she  had  her  Monism.  At 
that  time,  she  had  not  read  a  page  of  Haeckel 
by  whom  Monism  was  discussed  ten  years 
later.  In  Lifelines,  ii.,  she  has  further 
expounded   her  faith. 

Ellen  Key's  individualistic  morale  of  happi- 


102  Ellen  Key 

ness  has  given  rise  to  both  amazement  and 
indignation.  Egotism,  they  say,  would  there- 
by gain  an  unworthy  dominion  of  altruism. 
But  how  does  Ellen  Key  define  individualism? 
Let  us  turn  for  example  to  her  own  words  in 
the  Freedom  of  the  Perso7iality.  "No  individ- 
ualist persuades  himself  that  he  lives  for  any- 
body's sake  but  his  own,  or  for  any  other 
object  than  to  develop  and  ennoble  all  the 
resources  of  his  being.  But  the  more  fully  he 
attains  his  self-realisation,  the  more  strongly 
does  he  feel  the  complexity  within;  he  is  as 
sensitive  to  the  weal  and  woe  of  others  as  he 
is  to  his  own." 

Similarly,  she  speaks  of  the  morale  of  happi- 
ness as  against  the  morale  of  duty.  When  the 
young  ask:  "What  shall  we  do  to  become 
useful?"  she  cries  to  them:  "Be  seekers  of 
happiness!  .  .  .  With  the  very  highest  de- 
mands upon  happiness!"  Then  she  tells 
them  what  she  means  by  the  seeking  of  happi- 
ness: "Development  of  all  the  powers  of  soul 
and  body,  avoiding  such  amusements  and 
indulgences,  competitions,  and  pastimes  as 
tend  spiritually  or  physically  to  degrade, 
vulgarise,  or  corrupt." 

Here,  it  is  plainly  evident  that  only  the 
grossest  misunderstanding  or  purposely  falsi- 


Public  Activity  103 

fied  citations  can  transform  the  gospel  of 
happiness,  preached  by  the  full-blooded  al- 
truist, Ellen  Key,  into  a  doctrine  of  self-in- 
dulgence, and  only  by  leaving  out  the  second 
half  of  the  truth  which  she  emphasises.  Well 
may  one  deplore  the  vague  fancies  concern- 
ing these  words  which  so  often  have  caused 
the  fruitful  conflict  of  principles  to  degenerate 
into  a  sterile  battle  of  words. 

New  moral  doctrines  arise,  time  and  again, 
and  have  always  done  so.  The  most  recent, 
now  being  developed,  is  the  individualistic,  and 
is  a  much  needed  complement  to  the  altruistic 
moral  teaching,  which  bases  its  message  on 
the  theory  of  science  in  which  all  phases  of 
human  existence  are  treated  as  an  evolution 
of  the  positive  and  last  stage  in  the  life  of 
humanity.  Rightly  to  be  an  altruist  one 
must  without  doubt  also  be  an  individualist. 

In  the  summer  of  1894,  she  again  visited 
her  friends,  the  Von  Vollmars  in  Bavaria, 
walking  on  foot  through  Tyrol.  Ellen  Key 
is  not  fond  of  the  "puffing  locomotives"  by 
means  of  which  one  rushes  through  places; 
she  prefers  the  stage-coach,  "that  uncom- 
fortable and  fascinating  means  of  observing 
a  country's  peculiar  features,"  but  she  likes 
better  still  to  wander  on  foot  when  that  is 


I04  Ellen  Key 

possible.  She  visited  museums  and  exhibi- 
tions in  Munich,  Dresden,  Niimberg,  and  Wei- 
mar, and  returned  home  by  way  of  Berlin. 
After  this  journey,  she  gave  in  the  Nordisk  Revy 
{Northern  Review),  "Snapshots  of  European 
Art,"  a  hasty  but  clear  and  constructive  review 
of  the  development  of  modem  art.  A  second 
reminiscence  deals  with  her  visit  to  Goethe's 
Gartenhaus  and  the  Goethehaus  in  Weimar, 
which  she  describes  in  her  book.  Men  and 
Works.  A  third  result  of  this  trip,  was  the 
little  brochure  Individualism  and  Socialism, 
which  Ellen  Key  wrote,  after  having  exchanged 
thoughts  with  George  von  Vollmar,  during  her 
last  visit  to  his  home  in  Bavaria,  and  after  he 
had  finally  convinced  her  that  individualism 
and  socialism  m.ay  be  combined,  something 
she  had  long  doubted,  and,  therefore,  stood 
hesitating  before  the  socialism  to  which  she 
was  otherwise  drawn.  In  1898,  she  again 
visited  these  friends  when  on  a  tour  to  the 
great  cities  of  Germany  and  Italy. 

The  above  mentioned  articles,  Ellen  Key 
considered  as  but  temporary  expressions  of  her 
experiences,  and  not  until  years  later  did  she 
become  an  author  in  earnest. 

The  strong  feeling  of  blood  relationship  has 


Public  Activity  105 

never  left  Ellen  Key.  "Our  different  ex- 
periences and  opinions  cannot  break  these 
ties,"  she  once  wrote.  When  she  no  longer 
had  Sundsholm  to  go  to,  she  often  spent  her 
vacations  with  her  sister  Ada,  between  whom 
and  herself  the  tenderest  affection  exists,  in 
spite  of  their  dissimilar  views  of  life.  During 
these  visits  to  Visby,  she  learned  to  know  and 
love  Gotland,  making  excursions  on  foot 
through  various  parts  of  the  island.  Since 
her  sister's  family  moved  to  Karlstad  Ellen 
has  often  spent  her  Christmas  holidays  there. 
Of  Ellen's  brothers  and  sisters,  three  are 
living:  one  brother,  the  agriculturist  Mac 
Key  who  has  two  children — a  son  Ivar  and 
a  daughter  Ellen;  the  sister  Ada,  nearest  to 
her  own  age,  and  married  to  Director  Petterson, 
has  no  children ;  but  her  youngest  sister,  and 
first  pupil,  Kedda,  married  to  Architect  Yngve 
Rasmussen  in  Gothenburg,  has  five  children. 
In  these  seven  nieces  and  nephews  Ellen  Key 
finds  compensation  for  being  without  children 
of  her  own.  Since  her  removal  from  Stock- 
holm in  the  spring  of  1893,  Ellen  has  spent 
the  time  between  her  travels  abroad  partly 
with  her  friends,  the  Gibson  family,  at  Jon- 
sered,  and  partly  with  her  brother  then  living 
at  Oby  farm  in  old  Varend  County.     During 


io6  Ellen  Key 

the  summer  of  1895,  Ellen  Key's  brother  and 
his  wife  entrusted  their  children  to  her  care 
during  their  absence.     Now  she  actually  ex- 
perienced how  impossible  it  is  to  combine  the 
duties  of  home  with  other  work,  an  opinion 
she  had  earlier  expressed  but  now  found  prac- 
tically proven.    Her  thoughts  on  this  question, 
strengthened  by  the    summer's    experiences, 
she   expressed   in    a   lecture  entitled  "  Miss- 
brukad  Kvinnokraft,"     ("Woman's  Energies 
Misdirected  " ) .    The  lecture  was  received  with 
great   acclaim   in    Copenhagen,    but   aroused 
much  resentment  in  Stockholm  and  Gothen- 
burg, when  given  there  later.    She  was  severely 
criticised  by  the  suffragists,  who  went  so  far 
as  to  make  offensive  insinuations  as  to  her 
character.      Among  other  imputations  flung 
in  her  face,  she  was  told  that  by  prating  of 
sex,  love,  and  marriage  she  had  shown  herself 
to  be  an  immoral  and  dangerous  person.     This 
judgment  is  repeated  even  to  this  day.     In 
regard  to  the  tone  which  certain  of  the  critics 
allowed  themselves,  we  may  well  agree  with 
the    Finnish    reviewer   who    could    not    help 
thinking  that  it  would  have  caused  amazement 
in  other  countries.     Abroad,  one  has  long  been 
accustomed  to  have  women  deal  with  these 
subjects,  but  in  Sweden  one  was  shocked  that 


Public  Activity  107 

an  "unmarried  woman"  handled  the  delicate 
questions  which  in  "sanctified  silence"  ought 
to  be  hidden  from  profane  glances.  If  we 
could  have  put  Doctor,  instead  of  Miss,  before 
her  name,  probably  the  impression  would 
have  been  another. 

For  those  who  have  thought  at  all  about 
their  life,  especially  as  sex-beings,  nimiberless 
questions  must  have  arisen  for  married  and 
unmarried  alike.  We  ought  to  be  glad  that 
there  are  women,  even  without  a  scholastic 
degree,  who  have  courage  to  communicate 
what  life  has  taught  them,  and  certainly  not 
all  physicians,  sociologists,  and  philosophers 
have  penetrated  the  depths  of  these  problems 
as  have  some  lay  women.  As  regards  Ellen 
Key,  she  has  touched  on  these  intimate  and 
delicate  subjects  as  only  a  master  in  the  art  of 
language  could  do. 

A  very  prominent  man,  speaking  of  her, 
said:  "What  most  surprises  me  is  that  those 
who  reproach  Ellen  Key  for  immoral  tenden- 
cies are  the  very  ones  who,  through  their  own 
interpretation,  impute  vilencss  and  indecency 
to  her  utterances,  which  otherwise  plainly 
show  a  complete  inexperience  of  the  sensual 
and  vulgar  phases  of  life.  Those  who  will 
not  understand  her  ou^ht  not  to  read  her." 


io8  Ellen  Key 

When  Ellen  Key  chose  as  a  motto  for  her 
"  Missbnikad  Kvinnokraft,"  "Woman's  His- 
tory is  Love,"  it  must  have  been  her  belief  that 
at  the  least  the  women  would  not  attempt  to 
dispute  her,  and  that  the  little  book  would 
be  all  that  was  necessary  on  this  subject,  on 
which  she  would  have  preferred  to  keep  silent 
and  where  she  imagined  she  would  be  readily 
understood.  Instead,  there  ensued  a  battle 
which  found  its  vent  in  a  mass  of  articles, 
and  fifteen  pamphlets,  in  which  women  as- 
sailed Ellen  Key  for  her  false  doctrines.  All 
these  writings  proved  that  Ellen  Key  had  hit 
vulnerable  points  in  the  equal-rights  women's 
system.  The  little  book  was  sharply  criti- 
cised from  suffrage  quarters  also  in  neighbour- 
ing countries;  though  hailed  with  sympathy 
and  admiration  from  all  other  sides:  They 
spoke  of  "desertion"  and  in  their  excitement 
overlooked  what  she  had  spoken  and  written 
before  in  the  same  line. 

The  fanatical  sectarianism,  which  unfor- 
timately  adheres  to  many  woman's  rights 
champions,  brings  in  its  train,  as  always 
where  such  spirit  reigns,  a  prejudiced  pre- 
sentation of  an  opponent's  opinion.  "Ellen 
Key  has  become  unfaithful  to  the  ideas  of  her 
youth, ' '  they  said.    One  of  their  best  advocates 


Public  Activity  109 

had  given  herself  over  to  the  enemy.'  Yet 
all  who  have  followed  Ellen  Key's  writings 
and  public  utterances  ought  to  know  that  she 
has  always  put  woman's  heart-life  first,  while, 
at  the  same  time,  she  has  urged  complete 
freedom  for  her;  that  always,  even  in  her  so- 
called  reaction,  she  has  spoken  only  of  self- 
limitation;  and  that  she  has  never  been 
opposed  to  woman  suffrage,  but  only  to  the 
suffragists'  method  of  twisting  it  to  fresh 
oppression  of  individual  v/omen  and  of  woman's 
own  nature.  Ellen  once  said:  "All  that  I 
wanted,  I  still  want."  And  we  have  proof 
of  this.  In  1875,  Nya  Dagligt  Allenhanda 
printed  an  article  by  Ellen  Key  under  the 
caption:  Robinson's  Maria  Cult  of  Protestant- 
ism, where  line  for  line  she  sketches  that  con- 
ception of  woman's  destiny,  which  had  been 
hers  from  youth,  and  which  has  deepened  and 
strengthened  with  years. 

Ellen  Key  has  taken  very  little  part  in  the 
woman  suffrage  work,  and  this  little  only 
while  she  was  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Direct- 
ors in  the  Society  for  Married  Women's 
Property  Rights.     During  this  time,  she  wrote 

'  Alexandra  Gripenberg  in  her  great  book,  Reform  Work  in 
Bettering  Woman's  Position,  repeats  this  false  conception,  aind 
represents  Ellen  Key  as  a  type  of  the  erotic  naturalism. 


no  Ellen  Key 

for  their  journals,  and  gave  lectiires  in  Fin- 
land, which  were  published  later,  in  the  interest 
of  the  Society.     After  a  few  years,  she  resigned 
from   this  Society,  the  only  organisation  in 
which  she  has  ever  worked,  feeling  that  "So- 
cieties are  the  burying  grounds  of  ideas . "     But 
the  position  of  the  married  woman  remained  for 
her  the  item  of  chief  importance  in  the  work  of 
the  liberation  of  woman.     And  her  Lifelines 
makes  evident  that  this  is  still  the  case.     Yet 
from  the  suffrage  camp  came  charges  that  she 
opposed  woman's  newly  won  right  to  partici- 
pate in  all  kinds  of  labour.     When  they  as- 
serted that  she  admonished  women  to  return 
to    the    old    degrading    condition    of    sitting 
caged  in  the  quiet  world  of  home,  awaiting  a 
husband,  she  made   the  following  rejoinder: 
"Such  an  opinion  cannot  well  be  harboured 
by  any  thinking  person  in  an  age  when  the 
struggle    for  existence  has   reached   a  point 
where  the  majority  of  women  must  choose 
between    work    of    any    kind    or    starvation. 
Least  of  all  can  it  be  the  opinion  of  one  who 
believes   in   a   future   where   no   member   of 
society  can  withdraw  from  the  duty  of  work. 
Without  work,  woman  can  win  an  all-around, 
intellectual  and  ethical  development  no  better 
than  man,  and  woman  needs  work  more  than 


Public  Activity  m 

work  needs  woman.  The  woman  incapable 
of  work  always  falls  into  degrading  depend- 
ence in  one  form  or  another,  sometimes  the 
most  degrading  of  all — marriage  as  a  means 
of  support.  The  woman  disinclined  to  work 
fills  the  vacancy  in  her  life  with  a  cult  of 
dilettanteism,  nonsense,  and  adventures  of 
which  the  most  dangerous  is  marriage  for 
pastime.  Hence  it  is  not  woman's  work  that 
I  deplore.  But  I  think  the  emphasis  ought  to 
be  laid  on  the  kind  of  work.  I  pity  the  women 
who  have  no  choice,  but  who  are  forced  by 
want  to  accept  the  first  best  work  offered 
.  .  .  but  I  attack  those  women  who  in  peace 
and  quiet  may  choose  their  life  vocation,  and 
who  yet  do  not  give  a  thought  to  so  choosing, 
that  the  womanly  in  their  nature  may  find 
expression  in  their  work.  Nature  corrects 
abuses  of  liberty,  but  slowly  and  seriously." 

What  Ellen  Key  really  has  said  and  what 
she  means  is  that  since  emancipation  is  now 
as  good  as  accomplished  for  unmarried  women, 
let  us  use  it  rightly  in  accordance  with  woman's 
nature. 

The  essential  difference  that  exists  between 
man  and  woman  cannot  be  obliterated.  The 
agitators  for  women's  emancipation  go  too  far 
when  they  speak  of  absolute  equality  between 


112  Ellen  Key 

man  and  woman,  because  Nature  prevents  such 
equality  even  when  woman  violates  her  laws/ 

As  the  most  absurd  misunderstandings  came 
to  light,  and  the  onsets  had  to  be  answered, 
Ellen  Key  plunged  deeper  and  deeper  into  the 
study  of  existing  conditions,  as  well  as  of  old 
and  new  Hterature  on  the  subject.  She  had 
long  observed  how  the  "comedy  of  love"  was 
being  performed  on  the  stage  of  real  life, 
how  ignorance  and  hypocrisy  indiscriminately 
played  a  positive  r61e  even  in  highly  cultured 
homes.  She  saw  the  need  of  pointing  out, 
from  a  social,  historical,  and  psychological 
point  of  view,  the  wrong  direction  to  which 
the  woman-emancipation  tended,  and  thus  she 
encountered  all  those  interwoven  questions: 
sex-love,  marriage,  education.  She  treats 
these  subjects  directly  in  Thought- Images,  The 
Century  of  the  Child,  Lifelines,  and,  indirectly, 
in  Men  and  Works. 

True  to  her  individual  disposition,  she  met 
these  personal  attacks  with  great  patience. 
But,  with  the  passing  of  the  years,  she  has 
seen  so  much  of  suffering  and  unhappiness,  as 


^  In  her  later  book,  The  Woman  Movement,  Ellen  Key  has  cleared 
away  some  of  the  misunderstandings  caused  by  "  Missbrukad 
Kvinnokraft,"  ''Kvinnopsiicologi  och  Kvinlig  Logik."  {Woman's 
Energies  Misdirected,  Woman  Pyschology  and  Woman  Logic.) 


Public  Activity  113 

a  consequence  of  falsely  dealing  with  these 
questions,  that  her  courage  and  her  feeling  of 
justice  have  been  expressed  in  a  more  and 
more  uncompromising  teaching  of  the  individ- 
ual's right  to  decide  his  own  life,  and  arrange 
it  according  to  his  own  need,  provided,  how- 
ever, that  life-enlargement  is  won  thereby, 
which,  in  Ellen  Key's  interpretation,  means 
an  upward  ascending  development.  ^'i^' 

However  changing  and  diverging  her  utter-     ■"  '^• 
ances  may  seem,  they  are  only  variations  in 
different  keys  of  the  same  theme,  and,  to  a 
Hstening  ear,  they  will  blend  into  a  harmonious 
final  chord. 

Many  have  been  the  causes  which  have  led 
Ellen  Key  into  a  more  and  more  profound 
consideration  of  these  and  similar  problems. 
In  the  foregoing  chapters  on  Youth,  it  has 
been  shown  that  she  was  bred  in  the  conscious- 
ness of  great  love  as  the  highest  factor  in  life. 
Through  the  literature  she  perused,  her  eyes 
were  early  opened  to  the  sacredness  of  true 
marriage.  Thus  the  heart  soil  was  prepared 
early,  and,  later  in  life  in  her  own  experiences 
was  sown  the  seed  which  grew  into  tall  cy- 
presses. Because  only  such  have  grown  on  her 
own  path,  she  has  expended  all  her  strength  in 
teaching  others  how  to  care  for  their  roses. 


114  Ellen  Key 

A  Swedish  periodical  contained  the  following 
true  resume  of  Ellen  Key's  thoughts  in  regard 
to  the  questions  mentioned :  ' '  Ellen  Key  is  not 
one  of  those  who  dispose  of  a  life  question  in  a 
week  or  a  couple  of  years.  For  decades  she 
revolves  it  in  her  mind,  before  expressing  an 
opinion.  What  she  desires,  what  direction  of 
the  Woman  Emancipation  she  considers  ideal, 
is  made  plainly  evident  by  her  utterances. 
The  sacredness  of  individuality  is  the  life 
principle  on  which  must  be  built  the  ideal 
society  about  which  she  never  will  cease  to 
dream.  Not  through  the  equality  of  all,  but 
through  the  equal  opportunities  of  all,  shall 
the  common  brotherhood  be  established.  This 
equalisation  requires  freedom  to  develop  one's 
innermost  being.  That  this  is  not  similar  in 
all,  Nature  herself  indicates." 

The  more  perfect  all  members  of  society 
become  as  individuals,  the  more  need  will 
they  have  of  each  other,  the  stronger  will  be 
the  fraternisation,  and  the  nearer  shall  we 
advance  to  the  great  goal  of  the  ideal  society: 
the  greatest  possible  happiness  to  the  greatest 
possible  ntimber.  Ellen  Key  considers  the 
home  the  foundation  of  society.  In  place  of 
education  en  masse,  which  only  tends  to  simi- 
larity instead  of  to  equality,  the  home  ought 


Public  Activity  115 

to  include  the  school  during  the  child's  earliest 
years,  and,  through  knowledge  of  his  aptitude, 
he  could  be  led  from  promiscuous  reading  to 
special  studies.  The  greater  significance  a 
home  holds  as  an  educating  factor,  the  more 
may  be  gained  in  individuality,  provided  that 
the  children  in  that  home  are  considered  and 
treated  as  beings  with  new  individual  values 
to  unfold,  not  to  be  moulded. 

In  order  to  have  something  to  give,  however, 
the  homes  must  draw  upon  the  great  cultural 
values  which  society  at  large  produces.  This 
production  on  a  big  scale  is  man's  special 
mission,  according  to  his  peculiar  nature. 
Man's  work  tends  outward,  and  produces  the 
life  values  w^hich  society  at  large  has  to  live 
on;  thus  he  is  a  direct  supporter  of  society. 
Woman  supports  society  indirectly,  through 
her  inward-tending  activity,  as  the  life  prin- 
ciple of  the  home,  and  this  is  especially  due 
to  her  motherliness,  which,  to  Ellen  Key,  is 
identical  with  her  womanliness.  Psychologi- 
cally and  physically,  the  cultivation  of  the 
well-being  and  of  the  happiness  of  the  family 
requires  all  of  woman's  energies.  Personal 
love  is  her  nature.  First  in  and  by  love  does 
she  create  life  values  on  a  larger  scale.  By 
her  greater  inborn  morality,  love  attains  the 


ii6  Ellen  Key 

joyous  harmony  between  the  physical  and 
spiritual  needs.  Her  mission  is  to  hold  the 
balance  between  the  extreme  poles  of  physical 
desires  and  asceticism.  And  through  her  posi- 
tive chastity — not  negative  purity — spiritu- 
ality is  kept  alive  in  the  marriage  relation.  Her 
mother  natiire  has  not  the  physical  strength 
that  man  has,  and  this  influences  her  mental- 
ity, which  thereby  lacks  the  larger  creative 
power.  If  she  is  a  happy  wife  and  mother,  she 
must  be  a  secular  genius  worthily  to  fill  all 
the  duties  of  the  home  and,  at  the  same  time, 
attend  to  outside  activities.  Whether  mother 
or  not,  she  is  called  by  her  very  nature  to  dis- 
perse her  forces  among  the  little  details  so  im- 
portant for  the  home,  which,  though  smaller 
links  in  the  world  chain,  would  cause  life  to 
collapse  if  they  were  broken  away. 

In  the  marriage  relation,  Ellen  Key  de- 
mands full  mutual  freedom,  equality,  and  love 
as  its  only  ground.  Her  desire  in  the  many 
recurring  articles  has  been  to  give  to  the  pre- 
sent age  a  fresh  point  of  view,  and  a  new 
appraisal  of  love. 

She  believes  in  htimanity's  development 
according  to  natural  law,  through  its  own 
powers  to  achieve  the  earthly  harmony  which 
is  its  goal.     Not  only  does  she  lay  bare  the 


Public  Activity  117 

faults,  the  present  conception  and  its  conse- 
quences, but  she  also  knows  that  right  through 
these  progress  must  go.  She  analyses  the 
many  and  varied  reasons  for  happiness  and 
unhappiness.  In  telling  illustrations,  she 
points  out  what  it  is  that  holds  the  marriage 
intact,  and  what  sunders  it.  Woman  is  told 
that  it  largely  depends  on  herself  if  the  sun  of 
happiness  becomes  hidden  by  storm  clouds. 
She  analyses  and  synthesises.  Much  may  be 
learned  from  her  debates  on  love  and  marriage, 
originated  as  they  are  in  deep  feeling  and 
keen  intelligence.  But,  in  reading  all  these 
treatises,  though  instructive,  elevating,  and 
overflowing  with  beauty  of  thought  and  expres- 
sion, one  is  not  entirely  free  from  a  certain  fear 
that  by  this  weighing  and  balancing  of  good 
and  evil  forces,  of  happiness  and  unhappiness, 
of  cause  and  effect,  a  sharper  light  than  may 
be  wholesome  has  fallen  on  the  relationship  of 
husband  and  wife.  It  is,  for  example,  not 
unusual  that  hearers  of  popular  addresses  on 
diseases,  when  they  have  felt  the  smallest 
symptom  of  the  malady  described,  have 
fainted  from  fear  that  this  very  malady  was 
corroding  their  own  organs.  Likewise,  it  may 
happen  that  one  who  has  felt  a  slight  tem- 
porary discomfort  in  the  region  of  the  heart. 


ii8  Ellen  Key 

probably  caused  by  his  own  carelessness,  by 
reading  of  all  these  symptoms  of  sickness  in 
the  marriage  relation  may  imagine  himself 
suffering  from  some  incurable  matrimonial  ill, 
and,  in  weak  despair,  give  up  all  hope.  Ellen 
Key  does  not  seem  to  have  considered  how 
great  a  part  the  eagerness  of  outsiders  to  dis- 
cover bad  symptoms  in  the  life  of  married 
couples  may  play.  It  is  not  alone  the  great 
"Galeotto"  but  also  the  best  intentioned 
"soul  physicians"  who,  with  their  home-cures 
or  operative  interventions,  may  sever  as  well 
as  unite. 

Ellen  Key  has  great  power  of  fascination. 
She  fills  our  imagination  with  visions  of 
radiant  happiness.  But  she  also  frightens  by 
vivid  descriptions  of  how  faiilts  on  both  sides 
have  killed  even  the  tenderest  love.  In  this 
way  there  is  apt  to  arise  too  much  introspec- 
tion. Most  marriages  would  in  general  profit 
more  if  "husband  and  wife  learned  to  under- 
stand that  love,  like  friendship,  is  a  question  of 
forgiveness,  and  that  it  consists  of  a  mutual 
sacrifice  of  selfish  desires, "  as  Hellen  Lindgren 
beautifully  expresses  it.  Artists  of  life  are 
rare,  and  few  have  advanced  so  far  that  they 
do  not  stand  in  need  of  forgiveness.  Ellen 
Key  herself  says:    "Those  who  believe  in  a 


Public  Activity  119 

humanity  perfected  through  love,  must  learn 
to  count  in  thousands  of  years,  not  in  cent- 
uries, much  less  in  decades." 

Before  this  perfection  takes  place,  however, 
much  may  be  changed  for  the  better  this  very 
day.  And  the  many  astute  observations  and 
helpful  suggestions  that  abound  in  Ellen  Key's 
works  may  conspire  to  save  those  who  under- 
stand and  who  desire  to  be  saved! 

There  is  one  point  in  Ellen  Key's  ethics 
where  she  is  guilty  of  a  dangerous  incon- 
sistency. It  is  in  the  matter  of  the  freedom 
of  the  will  (see  Thought- 1  mages).  "Here  it 
is,"  she  says,  "that  Vauvenargues  develops  the 
deterministic  individualism  which,  though  not 
unassailable  from  the  point  of  view  of  logical 
consistency,  is  nevertheless  assailable  from  the 
standpoint  of  one's  experience."  The  great- 
est philosophers  have  encountered  the  same 
difficulty  so  this  is  no  reason  for  finding  fault 
with  Ellen  Key. 

But  to  what  purpose  does  she  quote  Vau- 
venargues, who  has  reached  the  same  con- 
clusion as  Spinoza,  when  he  says:  "We 
believe  ourselves  free  because  we  do  not  know 
the  motives  which  force  us  to  act.  We  are 
not  masters  of  our  actions  because  we  are  not 
masters  of  our  natures,"  when  she  proceeds 


I20  Ellen  Key- 

to  interpret  Vauvenargues'  line  of  thought 
to  mean  that  just  because  our  will  is  deter- 
mined by  our  nature,  that  is,  primarily  by  our 
desires,  instincts,  and  passions,  it  is  principally 
this  domain  we  ought  to  investigate  and  culti- 
vate? Our  actions  are  dependent  on  our 
impulses,  on  the  motives  which  are  strongest. 
Hence  the  goal  of  our  education  and  self- 
development  ought  to  be  to  seek  the  impulses, 
cultivate  the  habits,  enhance  the  feelings,  and 
associate  with  the  thoughts  which  later  may 
become  strong  influential  motives  for  our 
actions.  When  all  this — seeking,  cultivation, 
enhancement,  and  association — becomes  the 
result  of  education  and  self-cultivation  which 
is  consciously  directed  with  the  intention  of 
governing  our  desires,  instincts,  and  passions, 
then  are  they  not  acts  of  will  v^hich  we  our- 
selves determine?  Is  it  possible  to  gain  a 
philosophy  of  life  by  depending  upon  a  theory 
that  lacks  logical  consistency?  When  this 
lack  of  freedom  of  the  will  is  urged  as  the 
reason  why  fidelity  in  love  should  not  be 
promised,  since  love  may  cease  independently 
of  one's  will,  and  accordingly  the  conscien- 
tious hesitate  to  give  their  vows,  we  shrink 
from  the  consequences. 

But,  if  we  read  on  we  find  that  Ellen  Key 


Public  Activity  121 

herself  contradicts  her  earlier  expressed  opin- 
ion, and  declares  that  "the  intrinsic  worth  of 
the  personality  depends  largely  on  whether 
fidelity  is  a  life-value.  One  who  desires  fidel- 
ity, marshals  his  impulses,  gathers  his  forces 
'around  the  essential,  guards  them  from  chang- 
ing winds.  Hence  the  will  to  he  faithful  is 
incorporated  with  one's  own  integrity,  one's 
inner  coherence,  one's  attitude  and  dignity  of 
soul. "  Here  Ellen  Key  obviously  refers  to  our 
will,  which,  judging  from  this  last  utterance, 
evidently  does  not  entirely  lack  in  freedom. 

Hoffding  scores  a  strong  point  in  his  Ethics 
when  he  says: 

"One  of  the  prevailing  fallacies  is  that  the 
will  has  nothing  to  do  with  thought  and  feel- 
ing. .  .  .  Under  normal  and  natural  con- 
ditions, the  will  evolves  and  confirms  what 
thought  has  embraced,  and  what  feeling  has  en- 
compassed. The  will  must  be  present  first  and 
last,  only  thus  can  it  be  of  assistance  in  the 
fatal  moment.  The  two  individuals  are  not 
subjected  to  blind  fate.  The  matter  is  largely 
of  their  own  choosing  and  depends  upon 
whether  they  take  life  as  a  whole  seriously  or 
not.  Marriage,  like  all  unions,  requires  self- 
control  and  effort  to  endure." 

In  Life-Lines,  ii.,  Ellen  Key  has  dealt  more 


122  Ellen  Key 

at  length  with  the  nurture  of  the  soul  of 
which  she  had  already  given  many  stimulat- 
ing suggestions  in  Life-Lines,  i.  Yet  it  seems 
that  the  point  referred  to  above  constitutes 
one  of  the  gravest  inconsistencies  to  be  laid 
at  her  door. 

Lije-Lines  aroused  a  more  violent  contro- 
versy than  any  of  her  other  works.  We  are 
not  blind  to  its  faults.  Still  it  has  not  altered 
our  opinion  of  the  vital  nerve  in  Ellen  Key's 
writings.  It  must  be  evident  to  every  one  who 
cares  to  acknowledge  it,  that  she  steadfastly 
holds  to  her  ideal  view  of  the  relation  between 
man  and  woman,  and  the  life-line  she  draws 
is  perfectly  logical,  from  her  own  evolutionary 
starting-point.  But  she  has  hurt  her  book 
by  giving  place  with  seeming  understanding 
to  certain  obnoxious  anomalies  which  are 
foreign  to  her  own  idealism,  both  that  of  her 
nature  and  of  her  views;  and  therein  lies  the 
danger.  Because  if  on  the  one  hand  the  book 
helps  to  make  the  strong  stronger,  on  the  other 
hand  it  doubtless  may  make  the  weak  weaker. 

Life-Lines,  ii.,  contained  Ellen  Key's  philo- 
sophy of  life  as  a  whole.  Already  in  her  essay 
on  Rilke  in  Ord  ocJi  Bild,'  we  had  caught  a 

'  The  foremost  Swedish  literary  magazine,  Word  and  Picture. 
— Translator's  footnote. 


Public  Activity  123 

glimpse  of  the  same.  The  life-will  of  the  new- 
beings  is  here  explained.  "Full  and  warm  it 
embraces  all  the  richness  of  life,  great  and 
gentle,  it  bows  to  necessity;  fresh  and  courage- 
ous, it  looks  toward  the  future."^ 

Though  tempted  to  give  more  space  to  this 
subject,  we  must  turn  to  other  questions 
treated  by  Ellen  Key.  First  by  learning  to 
know  her  many-sidedness  do  we  get  the  true 
picture  of  her.  Most  of  the  chapters  in 
Thought- Images,  The  Century  of  the  Child, 
and  Me7i  have  previously  been  the  subject  of 
lectures  and  essays  printed  in  various  mag- 
azines. The  date  is  purposely  given  in  order 
to  repudiate  the  oft-repeated  charges  of  the 
great  impressionability  of  Ellen  Key.  It  has 
been  said  that  she  has  been  influenced  by  the 
author  last  read.  Efforts  have  been  made  to 
make  her  "harmless"  by  thus  lessening  the 
impression  of  her  keen  insight  into  the  needs 
of  the  age.  But  those  who  have  followed  her 
development  have  observed  how  gradually  this 
has  unfolded.  With  an  inner  consistency,  she 
has  gone  her  own  way,  and  allowed  nothing  to 
turn  her  aside.     She  has  always  avoided  giving 

'  Her  latest  book,  Men  and  Works,  makes  additional  contri- 
butions toward  a  better  understanding  of  her  life-faith,  which  is 
therein  illustrated  with  living  examples. 


124  Ellen  Key 

her  oath  of  allegiance,  has  ever  hated  dogmas, 
and  has  wanted  life  in  its  entirety.  Those 
who  are  easily  impressed,  generally  acquire 
opinions  quickly,  and  change  them  just  as 
quickly.  Ellen  Key,  on  the  contrary,  is 
extremely  conservative  in  her  emotional  life, 
and  has  but  tardily  completed  the  process 
of  development  which  her  own  life  and 
experiences,  as  well  as  outward  circumstances 
and  environment,  have  induced. 

Previously  to  the  books  mentioned  above, 
Ellen  Key  had  published  three  smaller  works 
on  social  and  political  questions,  the  most 
important  of  which  is  Individualism  and 
Socialism.'-  She  had  long  thought  on  social- 
ism, and  wished  to  see  its  theories  justified, 
although  her  strongly  individualistic  nature 
was  rather  repelled  than  attracted  b}^  it.  The 
indignation  inherited  from  her  mother,  at  all 
social  injustices,  and  the  insight,  gained  at 
her  father's  side,  of  how  wrongly  a  liberal 
movement  often  is  judged  from  the  outside, 
prepared  her  to  understand  socialism.  Her 
warm  interest  in  its  teaching  was  not  aroused, 
however,  until  there  began    to  be  heard  the 

^  Individualism  and  Socialism  was  published  in  book-fom  in 
1895,  but  had  earlier  been  the  subject  of  a  lecture  in  Christiania 
and  Upsala. 


Public  Activity  125 

voices  of  those  trying  to  solve  the  great  social 
problem,  the  mutual  interfusion  of  Individ- 
ualism and  Socialism. 

In  a  review  of  this  book  of  Ellen  Key's, 
Professor  Gustaf  Steffen  said:  "So  far  as  I 
know  there  has  not  been  written,  either  in 
English,  German,  or  French,  any  compre- 
hensive popular  treatise  which,  with  such 
fearless  independence,  such  straightforward- 
ness in  argument,  inspiring  confidence,  such 
epigrammatically  pointed  language,  poetic  and 
polished  form,  has  wrestled  with  the  newest 
of  all  questions,  viz.,  how  to  find  the  higher 
unity  which  harmonises  the  individualistic 
and  socialistic  tendencies  of  our  age.  .  .  .  An 
exhaustive  contrast  study  of  Nietzsche's  and 
Tolstoy's  ideas  is  one  of  the  most  alluring 
undertakings  that  our  day  has  to  offer  an 
essayist  like  Ellen  Key,  with  her  sure  in- 
stinct for  the  inner  unity  of  nature's  organic 
contrasts." 

The  final  pages  in  the  last  chapter  are  an 
exhortation  to  the  youth  of  other  countries  to 
follow  the  example  which  England  then  af- 
forded. Seeing  youth  influenced  by  the  spirit  of 
reaction,  she  tried  to  inspire  in  them  hopes  for 
the  future  and  desire  for  action,  with  words 
like  these :   "The  noble  age  of  youth  is  capable 


126  Ellen  Key 

of  feeling  compassion  simultaneously  with 
a  strong  individual  consciousness  of  power. 
And  there  are  some  who,  in  this  respect, 
remain  ever  young,  ever  ready  for  moments 
of  inspiration,  moments  when  a  great  deed,  a 
great  truth,  a  great  beauty,  or  a  great  happi- 
ness fills  the  being,  moments  when  the  tears 
well  up,  arms  stretch  to  embrace  the  universe, 
and  thoughts  traverse  it.  At  such  moments 
we  are  most  intensely  conscious  of  our  own 
personaHty,  at  the  same  time  we  feel  merged 
in  complete  sympathy  and  oneness  with  all  of 
life.  A  great  life — to  give  continuity  in  action 
to  such  inspired  moments ! ' '  Fortunate  indeed 
the  youth  who  receives  such  admonition. 

When  the  labourers  in  Norrland  and  Halland 
were  fighting  for  union  rights,  Ellen  Key  was 
ready  at  once  to  give  her  work  and  strength 
to  serve  the  aim  which  they  desired  to  win, 
and  did  win.  In  Karlstad,  Upsala,  and  Stock- 
holm during  the  Christmas  and  Easter  holi- 
days, she  gave  four  lectures,  afterwards  edited 
and  published  in  one  volume,  entitled :  Svensk 
och  Storsvensk  Patriotism  (Swedish  and  Greater 
Swedish  Patriotism). 

This  brochure  consists  of  three  chapters 
without  separate  headings.  All  three  aim 
toward  the  same  goal — freedom  from  oppres- 


Public  Activity  127 

sion.  In  the  first  chapter,  Ellen  Key  turns 
against  the  "world  power  which  enslaves  the 
spirit,  the  whole  social-economic  system  under 
which  wills  are  being  bowed. " 

Proceeding  from  great  ideal  view-points, 
she  gives  us  glimpses  of  the  demoralising 
influences  which  power  exercises  in  various 
departments  of  life.  In  hasty  review  there 
pass  before  our  eyes,  pictures  of  capitalism 
with  sword  drawn  in  defence  of  its  economic 
interests;  of  Germany  trampling  the  Danish 
nationality  in  Sonderjylland ;  of  Russia  de- 
stroying the  Finnish  Constitution;  of  France 
performing  the  Dreyfus  drama. 

We  grow  justly  indignant  with  it  all.  But, 
she  asks,  have  we  nothing  to  vex  us  nearer 
home?  And  she  proceeds  to  draw  a  strong 
contrast  between  the  deep  indignation  which 
we  feel  at  outrages  against  liberty  occurring 
abroad,  and  the  apathetic  unconcern  with 
which  we  tolerate  iniquities  in  our  own  coun- 
try. She  deplores  the  fact  that  apathy  and 
egotism  to  a  great  extent  fill  the  place  with 
young  and  old  which  ideal  enthusiasm  ought 
to  hold,  and  that  one  may  find  the  youth 
shrugging  their  shoulders  and  saying:  "What 
is  the  use?"  when  they  ought  to  be  up  in  arms 
against  prejudice  and  injustice. 


128  Ellen  Key 

The  warning  Ellen  Key  here  directed  to 
youth  had  a  decidedly  quickening  influence 
on  many  of  the  young  men  who  heard  her 
lecture  in  Upsala,  or  who  read  her  brochure. 
Some  expressed  themselves  afterwards  as  so 
impressed  by  her  words  that  sleep  had  fled 
that  night.  Thanks  to  the  enthusiasm  of 
these  young  students,  the  brochure  was  widely 
spread,  and  it  may  be  said  without  exaggera- 
tion that  this  address  set  its  stamp  on  that 
generation  of  youth  whom  it  reached. 

The  second  chapter  deals  with  the  rights  of 
Unionism.  Clear-sighted  and  just  as  Ellen 
Key  is,  she  takes  the  part  neither  of  employer 
nor  of  employee.  In  regard  to  this  polemical 
subject  she  desires  legal  contracts  on  both  sides 
and  arbitration  established  by  law.  Union 
rights  must  be  recognised  as  absolute  and 
inviolable.  Now,  as  always,  she  takes  the 
side  of  the  oppressed,  consequently  in  this 
conflict  she  takes  the  part  of  the  labourers 
who  were  denied  the  right  to  organise. 

She  pleads  for  liberty  as  against  despotism 
and  finally  says:  "We  talk  of  needing  fortifica- 
tions against  possibly  dangerous  neighbours, 
but  the  fortification  we  especially  have  need 
of  is  a  flaming  hatred  of  oppression  of  any 
kind,  a  passionate  energy  of  freedom,  with- 


Public  Activity  129 

out   which   other   fortifications    are   of  little 
avail. ' ' 

In  the  third  chapter,  she  brings  her  country- 
men face  to  face  with  the  Norwegian  question, 
in  regard  to  which  she  considers  the  Swedish 
feeling  of  liberty  and  justice  even  more  unde- 
fined and  vague  than  it  is  with  reference  to  the 
question  of  union  rights. 

Long  preparation,  confirmed  principles,  and 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  subject,  preceded 
Ellen  Key's  utterances,  now,  as  always. 
Through  her  friendship  with  Bj6mson  she 
learned  early  in  life  to  understand  the  import 
of  the  question  from  the  Norwegian  point  of 
view.  And,  during  the  many  years  that  she 
was  actively  interested  in  Swedish  politics 
with  her  father,  she  learned  to  differentiate 
Swedish  and  Greater  Swedish  patriotism. 

Among  the  notes  she  made  during  Bj6m- 
son's  visit  to  Stockholm  in  1873,  there  is  the 
following  referring  to  Norway  and  Sweden: 
"In  our  conscious  assurance  of  being  the 
greater,  older,  and  more  illustrious  people,  we 
are  unable  to  feel  genuine  sjmipathy  with 
Norway,  now  that  it  wants  to  go  its  own  way 
and  try  its  own  strength,  before  perfectly 
amalgamating  with  us,  as  we  would  like. 
The  two  countries  are  like  two  brothers,  of 


I30  Ellen  Key 

whom  the  elder,  whose  prestige  is  recognised 
and  whose  power  is  manifest,  proposes  to  the 
younger,  who  has  neither  the  one  nor  the 
other,  that  they  combine  their  land,  share 
everything, — equal  rights  and  equal  duties, 
— and  receives  the  pertinent  answer:  'No, 
thanks!  That  means  that  you  would  be 
master,  for  you  are  more  able  to  benefit  me 
than  I  you!  And  none  would  believe  me 
capable  of  anything,  and  I  would  never  learn 
to  depend  on  myself  even  when  I  might  do 
so  with  profit.  No!  Leave  me  alone.  Let  me 
fare  badly,  if  need  be,  just  so  that  I  attain 
my  own  stature.  Maybe  when  I  am  a  grown 
man,  we  may  unite,  for  then  our  forces  would 
be  equal,  and  we  may  pull  evenly,  something 
we  cannot  do  now. ' 

' '  Laws  which  are  not  forms  for  a  content  be- 
come irritating  bonds,  and  the  true  content — 
love  between  nations — cannot  be  created 
thereby.  Therefore,  let  love  alone,  and  it 
will  slowly  grow  in  peace  by  itself.  A  day 
will  come  when  the  two  peoples  will  clasp  hands 
to  form  an  indissoluble  union  with  legal  bond. 
But  before  that  day  we  shall  have  to  mingle 
blood  and  tears,  have  mutual  memories  and 
mutual  joys.  And  if  that  time  does  not 
come  in  the  way  we  Swedes  want,  or  find  to 


Public  Activity  131 

our  liking,  if  we  instead  come  to  have  three 
republics  in  the  north — which  is  what  Bjom- 
stjeme  Bjornson  wants — ^well,  no  matter,  if 
only  the  hearts  be  one.  ..." 

Few  things  better  illustrate  to  what  degree 
the  ideas  for  which  Ellen  Key  logically  and 
consistently  contended  in  mature  age  had 
already  germinated  in  her  mind  in  youth. 
The  fundamental  thought  found  in  these  notes 
recurs  in  her  dealing  with  this  question,  as  in 
all  questions  which  she  discusses:  "Laws 
which  are  not  form  for  a  content  ought  not 
to  exist.  A  union,  whether  between  nations 
or  individuals,  which  does  not  rest  upon  a 
solid  foundation,  that  of  mutual  happiness, 
should  be  dissolved." 

In  those  days  of  preparation,  when  many 
Swedes  insisted  that  a  union  saved  by  war 
was  preferable  to  a  union  dissolved,  when 
brother-war  was  advised  as  a  national  duty, 
Ellen  Key  proclaimed  her  opinion  that  each 
and  all  would  be  in  their  full  right  to  denounce 
such  patriotism  as  a  crime,  not  alone  against 
Norway,  but  also  against  the  noble  past  of 
our  own  nation,  against  the  present  generation 
as  well  as  the  future. 

She  was  harshly  judged  from  many  sides  for 
her  lack  of  patriotism,  for  hostile  talk,  and  this 


132  Ellen  Key 

because,  with  true  national  feeling,  she  had 
counselled  the  Swedish  people  to  act  like 
Swedes,  that  is — ^justly,  intelligently,  nobly, 
and  sanely.  While  she  may  have  over- 
estimated the  Norwegian  national  spirit,  that 
only  shows  the  natural  one-sidedness  of  that 
righteousness  which  forces  one  to  close  the 
eyes  to  the  weakness  of  the  person  one  believes 
oppressed.  Ellen  Key,  as  she  herself  says,  is 
no  Norway  fanatic.  She  does  not  absolve 
Norway  from  all  blame  in  the  Union  conflict. 
She  concedes  that  the  Norwegian  politicians 
have  occupied  themselves  too  much  with 
party  politics  instead  of  principles,  with 
side  issues  instead  of  the  main  cause.  But  she 
also  points  out  what  had  been  accomplished 
in  Norway  during  the  nineties  alone,  in  the 
line  of  political,  judicial,  religious,  and  social 
justice,  and  remarks  that  nearly  all  of  these 
reforms  had  been  repeatedly  proposed  during 
these  years  in  our  Swedish  Riksdag,  but  had 
been  tiuned  down;  and  she  adds:  "Since 
from  my  point  of  view  the  expression  of  justice 
and  humanity  in  legislation  is  the  most  deeply 
effective  work  of  civilisation,  I  consider  it 
proven  that  in  regard  to  this  kind  of  culture 
Norway  shows  itself  an  able,  active  youth, 
tied  to  one  temporarily  crippled."     However 


Public  Activity  i33 

much  one  bewailed  and  lamented  such  "treach- 
ery toward  her  fatherland,"  there  are  few  at 
present  who  can  deny  that  she  was  right  in 
her  comparison,  at  the  time  and  place  she 
applied  it. ' 

In  this  connection  may  be  mentioned  another 
action  in  a  certain  sense  political.  Ellen  Key 
was  the  first  Swede  who,  following  the  changed 
conditions  in  Finland  in  the  fall  of  1899,  went 
there  and  gave  a  series  of  lectures,''  in  the 
crowded  assembly  hall  of  the  University,  and 
thus  manifested  the  willingness  of  the  Swedes 
to  keep  up  the  spiritual  intercourse  between 
the  two  peoples.  She  chose  the  French 
Salons  as  her  subject,  so  as  to  get  a  chance  in 
her  last  discourse,  which  dealt  with  Madame  de 
Stael,  to  express  indirectly  the  thoughts  and 
emotions  stirring  the  minds  of  the  audience. 

The  lively  sympathies  Ellen  Key  aroused 
in  Finland,  and  of  which  the  papers  bore 
witness,  in  spite  of  their  constraint,  found 
their  final  expression  in  the  farewell  festival 
which  was  arranged  in  her  honour,  members 

'  At  the  time  of  the  disruption  of  the  Union  in  1905,  Ellen  Key 
came  before  the  public  with  a  discourse  in  favour  of  peace  at 
Heden  in  Gothembourg,  and  in  the  autumn  she  gave  the  ad- 
dress which  was  later  published  under  the  title:  The  Future  of 
Scandinavianism. 

'Later  published  in  At-^"v.m. 


134  Ellen  Key 

of  the  scientific,  artistic,  and  literary  world 
taking  part.  Ellen  Key  had  remained  in 
Helsingf ors  over  the  1 1  th  of  December,  want- 
ing to  avoid  any  celebration  of  her  fiftieth 
birthday,  never  thinking  that  any  one  in 
Helsingfors  knew  the  significance  of  that  day. 
But  in  this  she  was  mistaken.  The  farewell 
banquet  became  a  birthday  festival,  at  which 
Professor  V.  Soderhjelm  and  Helena  Vester- 
mark  eloquently  expressed  the  sympathies 
already  aroused  by  Ellen  Key's  writings  and 
which  were  now  greatly  strengthened  by  her 
visit.' 

In  the  spring  of  1900,  Ellen  Key  went 
abroad,  spending  four  months  in  London, 
England,  and  Scotland,  then  going  on  to 
Brittany  and  Paris  at  the  time  of  the  great 
world  exposition,  continuing  on  to  Italy, 
making  a  long  stay  in  Rome,  and  shorter 
visits  to  Naples  and  Sicily,  and  returning 
home  in  June,  1901,  by  v/ay  of  Vienna,  Dres- 
den, and  Berlin.  The  columns  of  Vienna's 
foremost    newspapers    showed    by   their   de- 

'  Her  impressions  of  this  visit  are  described  in  a  publication 
entitled:  In  Finland  and  Russia.  She  has  also  published  her 
Thoughts  on  Peace,  The  Peace  Movement  and  Culture  (Fram's  Pub. 
Co.),  and  Addresses  to  the  Youth  of  Sweden,  all  touching  more  or 
less  on  the  same  sphere  of  ideas  as  the  above-mentioned  booklets. 


Public  Activity  135 

scriptions  the  great  attention  paid  Ellen  Key. 
From  the  many  speeches  made  in  honour 
of  Ellen  Key  we  may  quote  the  following 
significant  phrase:  "You  have  sown  words, 
and  you  shall  harvest  people.     We  love  you.  '"^ 

Ever  since  Ellen  Key  wrote  her  first  obitu- 
ary of  Ernst  Ahlgren,  she  has  often  had  the 
grievous  occasion  of  writing  about  departed 
friends.  She  has  done  this  in  such  a  way 
that  one  can  well  understand  Hellen  Lind- 
gren,  who  once  said  of  Ellen  Key's  obituaries 
that  one  almost  wished  to  die  to  have  her 
write  about  one.  Karl  August  Tavaststjema, 
K.  af  Geijerstam,^  and  Hellen  Lindgren  be- 
long to  those  of  whom  Ellen  Key  has  written 
after  death. 

The  space  does  not  allow  ftirther  mention 
of  these  or  other  of  her  shorter  or  longer 
biographical  and  literary  essays,  first  pub- 
lished in  different  periodicals,  and  of  which 
later  those  on  C.  J.  L.  Almqvist,  The  Brown- 
ings, Goethe,  Rahel  Varnhagen,  Malvida  von 
Meysenbug,  and  Bjornson  (a  greeting  on  his 
seventieth  birthday),  published  in  book  form, 
are  best  known.     There  is  so  much  less  need 

'  Her  lecture  in  Vienna  was  delivered  in  German,  and  the  sub- 
ject was  the  life-work  of  the  late  Arthur  Hazelius. 
'  Swedish  writers. — Translator's  footnote. 


136  Ellen  Key- 

to  speak  of  these,  as  the  value  of  no  part 
of  Ellen  Key's  authorship  is  less  disputed. 
The  same  may  be  said  of  her  tracts  in  the 
Verdandi  series  and  certain  short  essays,  such 
as  "Courage,"  "Stillness,"  etc.,  which  first 
came  out  in  Christmas  magazines.' 

It  has  been  said  that  Ellen  Key's  writings 
suffer  from  a  lack  of  logic  and  order.  The 
reason  for  this  is  that  when  she  proceeds  to 
form  her  thoughts  into  words  the  artist  in  her 
compels  her  hand  to  draw  the  mists  of  poetry 
across  the  contours  and  thus  they  become 
somewhat  less  distinct.  Moreover,  the  wealth 
of  colour  in  her  style  dazzles  the  eyes  of  those 
who  consider  precise  etching  the  greater  art. 

Although  concurring  in  the  main  in  the 
above  general  criticism  in  regard  to  Ellen 
Key's  want  of  consistency,  we  want,  on  the 
other  hand,  to  endorse  Per  Hallstrom's  counsel 
to  readers  of  Ellen  Key's  works:  "When 
stumbling  over  a  sentence  that  seems  absurd 
in  its  categorical  formulation,  do  not  cry: 
'Alas!'  Simply  make  a  mental  note  of  it, 
and  read  on.  Sooner  or  later  you  are  almost 
certain    to    find — though    possibly    in    quite 

'  Another  little  work,  The  Education  of  the  People,  uniform  with 
the  pamphlets  Culture  and  Beauty  for  All,  Ellen  Key  gave  to  the 
Good  Templar  Order  to  help  them  in  their  educational  movement. 


Public  Activity  i37 

another  connection — the  complementary  con- 
tradiction and  restriction  made  by  herself  and 
often  much  better,  juster,  and  broader  than  the 
reader  in  the  heat  of  the  moment  could  have 
made  it. " 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE   LAST   YEARS   IN    STOCKHOLM 

AN  episode  in  Ellen  Key's  life,  which  ought 
to  have  a  place  in  her  biography,  is  her 
speech  at  the  Ibsen  Festival,  and  the  resulting 
storm,  which  found  its  outlet  partly  in  a  pro- 
test signed  by  two  hundred  and  eighty-one 
Swedish  women,  printed  by  request  in  all 
the  Stockholm  papers,  and  partly  in  the 
conflicting  opinions  expressed  by  the  various 
newspapers  throughout  the  country.  Two 
hundred  and  fifty  persons  attended  the  Ibsen 
banquet,  and  enthusiastically  applauded  Ellen 
Key's  address  to  the  guest  of  honour.  Ellen 
Key  had  been  out  of  town  at  the  time  of 
Ibsen's  visit  to  Stockholm,  but  was  appealed 
to  by  telegram,  and  begged  to  return  to  "voice 
the  feelings  of  the  Swedish  women. "  Having 
previotisly  paid  personal  homage  to  Ibsen,  in 
an  address  of  greeting  on  his  seventieth  birth- 
day, and  also  in  her  lectures  in  Stockholm 
before  the  Federated  Highschools'  Society  and 

138 


The  Last  Years  in  Stockholm     139 

New  Idun,  having  expressed  her  conception 
of  Ibsen  and  women,  she  had  good  reason  to 
suppose  that  her  ideas  were  known.  Conse- 
quently, she  abandoned  what  she  has  called 
"her  good  habit  of  speaking  for  herself 
alone,"  although  she  had  even  then  caused 
fierce  opposition,  it  was  naturally  much 
worse  now;  for  vSwedish  women  felt  them- 
selves called  upon  to  protest  against  a  speech 
which  proclaimed  to  the  world,  at  home  and 
abroad,  that  they  had  entered  upon  a  new 
epoch,  had  received  a  new  religion,  new  ideals, 
and  that  their  old  ideals  of  morality  now  be- 
longed to  the  "land  whose  sun  had  set. "  One 
can  hardly  blame  these  two  hundred  and 
eighty  women,  who  spoke  only  for  themselves^ 
as  they  too  were  "Swedish  women!" 

During  that  spring,  while  so  many  minds 
were  afire,  exaggerations  were  made  by  those 
who  defended,  as  well  as  by  those  who  at- 
tacked. The  best  contribution  is  to  be  found 
in  Sve?iska  Dagbladet  of  18  May,  1898.  In  this 
article,  all  interested  in  the  question  are 
advised  to  consider  what  the  now  generally 
respected  Henrik  Ibsen,  w^ho  became  classical, 
even  before  his  death,  had  to  say  in  regard  to 
the  "liberation  of  the  personality,"  and  this 
advice  is  especially  directed  to  the  protesting 


140  Ellen  Key- 

ladies,  a  majority  of  whom,  without  doubt, 
would  be  found  to  be  Ibsen  admirers,  but  who 
misconstrue  his  ideas  when  expressed  through 
Ellen  Key. 

Our  memory  may  be  refreshed  by  a  recapit- 
lilation  of  what  Ibsen  has  said  in  Brand,  in 
The  Doll's  House,  Ghosts,  in  poetry,  letters,  and 
addresses,  and  we  shall  then  find  how  close 
Ellen  Key's  line  of  thought  kept  to  his. 

The  consequences  of  her  Ibsen  speech  must 
have  proved  to  Ellen  Key  that  she  was  right 
in  her  instinct  to  avoid  as  much  as  possible 
all  public  tasks.  Her  antipathy  to  club  work 
of  every  kind  has  been  as  strong  as  it  has  been 
consistent.  Except  in  the  Society  for  Married 
Women's  Property  Rights,  Ellen  Key  has  been 
active  only  in  Tolftema  and  in  New  Idun. 
The  purpose  of  this  latter  society  was  discussed 
and  accepted  by  a  small  group  of  ladies,  of 
w^hom  Ellen  Key  was  one.  There  had  long 
existed  in  Stockholm  a  men's  society  called 
Idun,  and,  in  1885  these  ladies  decided  to  form 
a  women's  society  after  the  same  pattern; 
the  object  being  to  offer  opportunity  for  stim- 
tilating  social  intercourse  and  exchange  of 
ideas.  The  members  of  New  Idun  are  re- 
cruited from  the  women  artists  and  brain- 
workers  of  Stockholm,  and  the  object  of  the 


The  Last  Years  in  Stockholm      141 

Society  is  to  see  to  it  that  notables  visiting 
Stockholm  are  brought  into  contact  with  the 
intellectual  world  of  the  capital.  Ellen  Key 
proposed  Dr.  Ellen  Fries  as  the  first  president 
and  was  induced  to  take  the  vice-presidency 
herself ;  but  when  Ellen  Fries  sent  in  her  resig- 
nation on  account  of  illness,  the  Society  urged 
Ellen  Key  to  become  president,  and  this  office 
she  held  for  many  years.  One  of  the  members, 
writing  about  her  in  this  capacity,  says: 
"Ellen  Key  possesses  all  the  qualities  which 
grace  a  chairman — perfect  delivery,  dignity, 
and  humour  combined,  in  bom  eagerness  to 
bring  souls  together,  impartiality  in  the  most 
chivalrous  manner,  broad  culture,  warm  in- 
terest in  everything,  a  genius  for  arrangement 
without  being  practical  in  the  ordinary  sense, 
and  finally  a  great  ability  quickly  to  make  a 
position  clear  and  to  decide  upon  a  course. " 

In  addition  to  the  annoying  persecution, 
which  ensued  after  the  controversy  on  the 
woman  question,  it  may  be  mentioned  that 
intrigues  played  their  part  in  New  Idun  in 
an  endeavour  to  rem.ove  Ellen  Key  from  the 
presidency  which  she  had  filled  so  well.  But 
as  this  Society  had  a  number  of  high-minded 
and  upright  women  among  its  members,  this 
plot  failed  entirely,  and  Ellen  Key  was  retained 


142  Ellen  Key 

in  the  chair  until  the  fall  of  1900,  when,  going 
abroad  to  remain  a  year,  she  sent  in  her  resig- 
nation, to  which  she  has  since  adhered  in  spite 
of  re-election.  Before  she  left  Stockholm,  a 
pretty  festival  was  arranged  by  members  of 
New  Idun,  and  the  Society  expressed  in  vari- 
ous ways  what  Ellen  Key  had  been  to  them. 
Nothing  but  her  interest  in  the  new  literature 
induced  her  to  accept  the  membership  offered 
her  in  Albert  Bonnier's  Stipendum  fund, 
formed  in  1901,  and  from  which  she  withdrew 
at  fifty-five  years  of  age,  according  to  its 
statutes. 

After  Ellen  Key's  last  lecture  at  the  People's 
Institute,  in  1903,  which  was  also  the  last 
evening  of  her  life  in  Stockholm,  and  which 
happened  to  be  the  30th  of  April— Walpurgis 
Eve — a  great  ntimber  of  friends  gathered  in 
the  ballroom  of  the  Hotel  Rydberg  to  take 
farewell  of  her.  A  solemn  as  well  as  festive 
spirit  animated  those  present.  Genial  ad- 
dresses were  made  in  her  honour,  and  she  was 
thanked  for  the  Walpurgis  fires  of  stimulating 
ideas  which  she  had  kindled  in  our  minds. 
The  following  words  are  quoted  from  her 
utterances  on  this  occasion : 

"  .  .  .  It  is  not  from  cowardice  or  weariness 
that  I  retire  from  this  field  of  action.     To  all 


The  Last  Years  in  Stockholm     143 

of  us,  and  especially  is  this  true  of  me,  there 
comes  a  time  in  life  when  we  desire  to  make  a 
halt,  to  gather  ourselves  together,  and  ponder 
past  experiences.  Moreover,  I  am  country 
bom,  and  the  country  calls  me. 

"It  has  been  said  here  to-night  that  I  have 
sown  seeds  and  kindled  fires.  I  am  deeply 
conscious  that  the  seeds  might  have  been 
more  fully  ripe,  and  that  the  fires  might 
have  shone  clearer,  and  been  less  dimmed 
by  smoke. 

'  *  I  have  taken  part  in  the  life-fate  of  so  many 
and  have  had  to  give  out  so  much  of  myself 
in  small  coin,  that  I  now  feel  I  must  allow 
myself  solitude,  in  order  to  be  more  to  the 
few,  and  be  able  to  give  more  to  the  many." 

That  Ellen  Key  left  Stockholm  and  the  life 
which  would  have  held  fascination  for  most 
people — being  surrounded  by  admiring  and 
grateful  listeners  and  a  steadily  increasing 
circle  of  friends — was  not  the  result,  as  some 
supposed,  of  being  wearied  by  the  simultane- 
ously increasing  slander  and  misunderstanding. 
It  was  the  result  rather  of  her  feeling  that  she 
was  unable  to  give  to  all  these  friends  all  that 
they  expected,  and  also  of  the  great  demand 
for  free  lectures  and  private  advice. 

Ellen  Key  does  not  belong  to  those  who  drop 


144  Ellen  Key 

old  friends  for  new;  any  misunderstanding 
with  a  friend  causes  her  anguish,  and  while 
the  bitterest  attacks  are  not  likely  to  give 
her  a  sleepless  night,  the  fear  of  having 
wounded  some  one's  sensibility  may  do  so. 
For  such  a  nature,  each  new  relationship  is  an 
exercise  that  calls  upon  the  very  forces  of  the 
soul,  and,  when  it  is  known,  besides,  that  Ellen 
Key  personally  answers  all  inquiries,  never 
avoids  doing  any  one  a  service,  but  on  the 
contrary  even  takes  pains  to  invent  them, 
devoting  time  and  strength  thereto,  it  may 
readily  be  understood  how  overworked  she 
must  have  been  during  the  last  years  in 
Stockholm. 

Moreover,  it  is  characteristic  of  her  to  be 
moved  passionately  by  the  fate  of  others,  and 
to  grieve  over  their  wrongs.  In  her  nature  are 
combined  the  traits  of  both  father  and  mother, 
forming  an  individuality  dissimilar  to  either. 
She  herself  says  that  this  combination  is  so 
perfect  that  she  has  one  far-sighted  and  one 
near-sighted  eye,  gifts  from  each  parent! 
From  persons  who  have  known  both,  we  learn 
that  Ellen  inherits  her  strong  emotions  from 
her  mother,  also  the  exceeding  modesty  which 
always  makes  her  as  grateful  for  the  simplest 
kindness  and  as  unable  to  make  demands  as 


The  Last  Years  in  Stockholm     145 

when  she  was  a  Uttle  girl  at  Sundsholm .  And 
from  her  father,  we  know  her  to  have  inherited, 
a  sunny,  kindly  disposition  and  the  ability  to 
be  just  and  noble  in  combat.  Both  parents 
were  hot-tempered,  and  this  disposition  has 
descended  in  full  strength  to  Ellen  Key;  her 
quick  perception  makes  her  very  impatient 
with  the  slowness  of  others.  It  is  true  that  she 
has  such  self-control  that  few  persons  know 
of  this  fault,  but  she  herself  declares  that  she 
at  least  "several  times  a  year  sees  red,  and 
feels  murder!"  Her  strong  hatred  of  all 
injustice  makes  it  hard  for  her  to  endure 
wrongs  toward  herself,  although  she  is  mag- 
nanimously forgiving.  And  she  does  not  find 
it  diffictilt  to  make  kind  replies  to  sharp  oppo- 
nents of  her  views,  if  such  opponents  otherwise 
hold  her  respect.  In  private  life  she  never 
makes  propaganda  of  her  opinions, — nay,  she 
considers  it  a  duty  not  to  disturb  any  faith 
by  which  a  person  really  lives.  The  sparkling 
wit  which  sometimes  flashes  forth  never  be- 
guiles her  into  joking  over  serious  subjects, 
not  even  in  the  jolliest  conversation.  """ 

In  connection  with  this  characterisation 
of  Ellen  Key's  personal  life,  which  we  have 
endeavoured  to  give  here,  we  cannot  refrain 
from  some  expression  of  the  bitter  pain  which 


146  Ellen  Key 

all  her  friends  feel  that  her  dutiful  life 
among  us  has  been  the  subject  of  the  most 
shameful  slander  on  the  part  of  those  who 
believed  thereby  to  deaden  the  influence  of 
her  words. 

Ever  since  1889,  she  has  been  subject  to 
public  attacks,  vile  slander,  and  abuse,  inde- 
cent anonymous  letters,  brazen  lies  about  her 
private  life,  and  insinuations  uttered  by  "cul- 
tured" ladies  in  private  gatherings.  Though 
all  this  has  been  extremely  painful  to  her 
womanly  sensitiveness,  she  has  persisted  with 
her  work,  though  grown  so  shy  of  people  that, 
during  the  last  years  in  Stockholm,  she  never 
showed  herself  in  public  except  when  on  the 
lecture  platform.  One  of  the  many  preposter- 
ous lies  spread  about  her,  which  went  the 
round  even  of  the  Stockholm  clergy,  and  was 
related  as  a  "fact, "  was  that  she  had  a  grown 
daughter.  How  did  such  a  story  originate? 
In  this  wise:  A  young  girl  who  did  not  want 
to  trouble  Ellen  Key  with  calls,  but  who  was 
an  eager  listener  at  her  lectures,  used  to  write 
her  inquiries  touching  on  matters  of  intimate 
importance.  And  she  took  the  liberty  of 
calHng  Ellen  Key  "little  mother,"  feeling  a 
spiritual  daughterly  relation  to  her.  Ellen 
Key  left  the  letter  lying  open,  and  some  one 


The  Last  Years  in  Stockholm      147 

who  glanced  at  it  then  officiously  spread  the 
gossip.' 

Of  like  character,  or  still  more  unreasonable, 
are  all  other  stories  about  Ellen  Key,  or  about 
persons  with  whose  erotic  life  she  is  supposed 
to  have  interfered. 

Ellen  Key's  naivete  is  so  great  that  a  child 
may  fool  her  with  some  simple  ruse  time  and 
again  in  succession,  and  this  credulity,  this 
lack  of  suspicion,  light-hearted  good  humour, 
in  other  words,  this  simplicity  which  so  endears 
her  to  her  friends — though  at  the  same  time 
causing  them  much  apprehension  for  her — ^is 
incomprehensible  to  her  enemies.  They  have 
not  even  blushed  to  direct  indecent  questions 
to  her  in  public  about  her  private  life,  an 
impudence  which  they  have  excused  by  saying 
that  there  could  be  nothing  insulting  in  the 
presumption  that  "Miss  Key  lived  as  she 
preached."  People  forget  that  a  woman  of 
Ellen  Key's  age  has  good  reason  to  believe 
herself  able  to  speak  on  these  subjects  as  one 
personally  outside  of  them,  and  also  that  a 
woman  with  Ellen  Key's  public  courage  ought 
to  be  able  to  believe  herself  protected  from  the 

'  The  gossip  related  in  Svarla  Fanor  (Black  Banners),  by  August 
Strindberg,  is  one  example  among  the  many  of  the  slanderous  tales 
which  have  appeared  in  print  about  Ellen  Key. 


148  Ellen  Key 

suspicion  of  not  having  openly  shouldered  the 
consequences  of  her  private  actions.  When 
Ellen  Key  stands  as  a  single  woman  before 
the  world,  it  means  that  she  is  single  in  fact. 

I  have  never  belonged  to  Ellen  Key's  inti- 
mate circle;  my  more  conservative  nature 
has  even  kept  me  on  the  outskirts,  and  I  have 
often  felt  trepidation  at  her  uncompromising 
desire  for  freedom,  and  the  bold  language  con- 
cerning debatable  principles  into  which  she  is 
sometimes  beguiled  by  her  ardent  tempera- 
ment. Yet  we  have  long  been  friends. 
Midsummer-Eve,  of  1876,  Ellen  Key  arrived 
at  my  country  home,  eagerly  expected,  as  I 
had  heard  her  much  spoken  of.  She  made 
only  a  short  visit,  but  she  produced  an  impres- 
sion for  life.  What  first  attracted  me  was 
the  noble  simplicity  of  her  nature.  Her  con- 
versation was  engrossing,  and  she  had  a  rare 
ability  of  choosing  suitable  subjects  for  each 
member  of  our  large  household,  where,  as  is 
often  the  case  in  the  country,  even  outsiders 
were  present  at  meals,  generally  as  quiet 
listeners  only.  But  Ellen  Key,  with  her  fine 
amiability,  knew  how  to  make  all  feel  at  their 
ease.  One  subject  led  to  another  and  the 
atmosphere  was  one  of  good  feeling  and 
pleasure.     A  great  void  was  felt  when  she  left. 


The  Last  Years  in  Stockholm      149 

and  that  is  the  common  experience  in  the 
circles  she  leaves,  because  she  always  searches 
out  the  best  in  people.  That  is  the  secret  of 
the  delight  one  feels  in  her  nearness. 

During  all  the  years  which  have  passed 
since  then,  I  have  always  found  her  the  same, 
and  I  have  been  near  enough  to  observe  her 
personal  life,  which  is  very  simple.  It  has 
often  touched  me  deeply  to  notice  how  hard 
worked  and  lonely  she  seemed,  when  she  has 
stopped  for  a  moment's  visit — rich  and  unfor- 
gettable for  me — on  her  way  to  the  People's 
Institute,  or  from  luncheon  at  the  house- 
keeping school.  This  home  lover,  this  hostess, 
— so  attractive  at  the  little  parties  she  some- 
times gave  where  many  charming  women 
gathered,  a  curious  mingling  of  aristocratic 
relatives  with  her  democratic  friends, — would 
go  in  all  weathers  to  get  her  meals  in  the  sim- 
plest possible  way;  and  that  too,  in  spite  of 
her  fine,  cultivated  taste,  and  her  appreciation 
of  "pure  Rhine  wine  poured  in  a  Venetian 
glass."  And  of  her  own  accord,  she  chose 
this  extremely  plain  living,  for  she  might 
have  arranged  her  mode  of  life,  in  later  years 
at  least,  more  in  keeping  with  her  person. 
But  then  she  would  not  have  been  able,  by 
free  lectures  and  other  direct  help,  to  have 


150  Ellen  Key 

made  so  many  people  happy,  nor  perhaps 
have  looked  forward  in  old  age  to  an  independ- 
ence indispensable  for  her.  And  her  "art  of 
living"  has  always  been  to  choose  and  strive 
for  the  values  in  life  most  essential  to  herself. 
Ellen  Key  has  during  middle  age  gained  a 
health  and  strength  which  her  delicate  con- 
stitution in  youth  did  not  promise.  The 
wholesome  regular  life  which  she  has  led  has 
done  much  to  produce  this  happy  result.  She 
has  had  simple  habits  in  food  and  drink,  and 
has  led  a  healthy  out-of-door  Hfe,  although 
athletics,  as  practised  in  the  cities,  have  never 
attracted  her.  She  is  still  a  good  walker  and 
swimmer,  and,  however  precious  time  may 
have  been  to  her,  she  has  abstained  from  night 
work.  Strictly  dutiful  in  her  work,  her  habit 
has  been  to  retire  early,  and  rise  early,  and, 
immediately  after  her  bath,  to  take  a  long 
tramp  in  the  woods.  One  of  her  nearest 
friends — ^who  has  told  me  much  of  what  I  am 
here  relating  of  Ellen  Key's  characteristics — 
used  sometimes  to  call  for  her  on  these  walks. 
One  morning  she  said,  as  she  entered  her  room  : 
"Have  you  time  to  go  out  to-day?  you  have 
your  lecture  on  the  'Century  of  the  Child' 
this  evening."  Ellen  Key  answered  calmly, 
"Why,   certainly,  that  lecture  I  have  been 


The  Last  Years  in  Stockholm     151 

preparing  in  my  mind  since  I  was  four  years 
old."  When  they  reached  the  woods,  Ellen 
Key  was  in  the  midst  of  an  interesting  talk 
which  held  her  friend's  attention  so  that  she 
did  not  notice  that  she  was  about  to  step  on 
a  flower.  Ellen  Key  suddenly  held  her  back, 
exclaiming:  ''Don't  you  see  the  flower?  It 
is  also  a  life!"  To  be  considerate  of  all  lives, 
even  that  of  a  poor  unnoticed  little  flower,  is 
characteristic  of  her. 

I  remember  the  many  times  she  has  refused 
to  come  to  evening  parties,  especially  during 
her  years  of  teaching.  The  answer  used  to  be : 
"No,  thank  you.  I  can't  be  up  at  night  for 
I  must  be  up  early,  and  prepare  to  fulfil  my 
duties.  A  tired  teacher  is  good  for  nothing." 
She  was  seldom  seen  at  the  theatres,  and  only 
music,  especially  symphony  concerts,  tempted 
her.  During  the  thirty  3^ears  she  lived  in 
Stockholm,  she  has  hardly  been  seen  more  than 
ten  times  at  public  social  gatherings,  or  cafe 
parties,  so  distasteful  was  this  life  to  her. 

One  of  her  simple  habits  was  to  travel  third 
class,  even  on  night  jou-me^^s.  The  cigarette- 
smoking,  which  many  consider  unbecoming  to 
women,  she  has  never  indulged  in;  her  mother 
did  not  like  to  see  women  smoke ;  she  respected 
her  mother's  feeling.     Of  wine,  she  tastes  only 


152  Ellen  Key 

the  lighter  kinds,  and  this  seldom  and  spar- 
ingly. Thus,  the  image  of  Ellen  Key  as  an 
apostle  of  self-indulgence  is  as  unlike  her  as 
possible.  On  the  contrary,  her  many  friends 
see  in  her  a  remarkably  controlled  person,  and 
in  regard  to  all  the  pleasures  of  life  extremely 
abstemious.  Ellen  Key  has  been  wont  to  say 
that  nothing  is  better  for  a  rich  man's  children 
than  to  be  brought  up  as  poor,  for  wealth 
may  disappear,  as  happened  in  her  own  case, 
but  hardihood,  wherewith  to  meet  all  vicis- 
situdes in  life,  remains. 

In  the  different  little  homes  she  has  had  in 
Stockholm,  1884,  16  Villa  Street,  from  the 
autumn  of  1892,  15  Valhalla  Road,  and  from 
the  autumn  of  1895,  49  Valhalla  Road  she 
had  arranged  things  very  pleasantly.  Though 
having  to  walk  up  and  down  four  flights  of 
stairs  many  times  a  day,  yet  when  she  had 
reached  her  haven  and  closed  the  door,  she 
felt  happy  and  at  peace  and  enjoyed  concen- 
trating on  her  work  surrounded  by  her  own 
familiar  things.  In  her  home,  which  consisted 
principally  of  a  large  living  and  work  room 
combined,  one  learned  to  know  her  and  what 
she  means,  perhaps  better  than  by  her  books. 
"Beauty  for  All"  is,  for  instance,  not  easy  to 
comprehend,  but  one  who  visited  Ellen  Key 


ELLEN    KEY. 

PHOTOGRAPH  BY   PERMISSION  OF   SLENDERS   FORLAG,    COPENHAGEN. 


The  Last  Years  in  Stockholm     153 

would  understand  the  words  of  Ehrensvard 
which  she  quotes  in  that  essay:  " It  is  almost 
incredible  how  beautiful  a  thing  becomes  when 
we  see  a  reason  for  it."  Her  bedroom  was 
furnished  with  her  grandfather's  writing-desk, 
and  the  old  and  worn  toilet  table  which  had 
belonged  to  her  grandmother;  her  father's 
sofa  served  as  her  bed,  and,  on  the  opposite 
wall,  hung  her  mother's  portrait,  and  photo- 
graphs of  her  dead  friends,  and  of  Sundsholm, 
Bjorno,  and  Kallernas.  In  the  larger  room, 
stood  her  own  writing-table  with  the  Eros  bust 
from  the  Vatican,  and  comfortable  pieces  of 
furniture,  almost  all  from  the  old  home,  among 
them  a  little  chair  and  sofa,  which  had  been 
her  own  since  she  was  four  years  old,  book- 
shelves, paintings  and  sketches  done  by  her 
friends,  some  of  them  our  foremost  artists. 
Over  her  resting  place  hung  a  large  photo- 
graph of  Bocklin's  Island  of  Death,  also  a  re- 
lief medallion  of  her  father,  the  handsome 
features  in  life  size,  and  around  it  a  great 
laurel  wreath  which  had  been  given  to  her. 
And  then  books  everywhere,  lying  at  hand  on 
all  tables,  and  during  the  whole  winter,  flowers 
often  given  her  at  the  lectures  at  the  People's 
Institute  where  they  had  been  brought  by 
unknown  friends,  and  whence  they  had  been 


154  Ellen  Key 

carried  to  Ellen  Key's  home  by  devoted 
listeners. 

On  week-days  her  door  was  closed,  but  for 
some  hours  on  Sundays  she  would  see  every  one 
who  wished  to  speak  with  her,'  usually  on 
some  important  errand  of  their  own,  or  about 
some  cause  they  held  in  common.  The  hostess 
tried  to  satisfy  all  without  forcing  herself  on 
any  one.  To  see  to  it  that  people  who  might 
enjoy  each  other  would  meet,  has,  for  years, 
been  one  of  the  things  that  made  her  happy, 
and  many  bonds  of  friendship  have  been 
formed  in  Sweden  and  in  Europe,  with  Ellen 
Key  as  mediator. 

Seeing  Ellen  Key  in  her  lonely  home  it  was 
impossible  to  ward  off  the  thought  of  how 
meaningless  life  is;  for  however  much  one  may 
be  comforted  in  thinking  that  this  very  lone- 
liness has  caused  her  to  be  so  much  to  so  many, 
one  cannot  help  but  wonder  what  can  have 
caused  her  to  remain  alone.  A  woman  who 
has  not  had  an  opportunity  to  marry  is  a  rare 
phenomenon.  And  when  a  woman  like  Ellen 
Key  has  remained  single,  only  a  low  mind  can 
interpret  her  emphasis  of  the  importance  of 
love  and  motherhood  as  an  expression  of  an 

'  Ellen  Key  has  never  had  a  telephone  in  her  home,  not  even  in 
her  present  and  permanent  home,  Strand. 


The  Last  Years  in  Stockholm     155 

old  maid's  desire  for  marriage!  Those  who 
care  to  understand,  feel  that  Ellen  Key  speaks 
as  one  who  does  not  consider  herself  or  her  own 
fate  although  doomed  by  fate  to  be  among 
those  who  "sit  alone  by  solitary  fires."  And  "x) 
her  strength  lies  in  not  having  lost  the  feeling  - 
for  the  great  values  of  life,  with  all  her 
heart  she  desires  for  others  what  she  has  not 
herself.  Whatever  the  cause  of  Ellen  Key's 
singleness  may  have  been,  one  cannot  but 
wonder  at  the  amazing  manner  in  which  her 
views  of  the  happiness  of  love  as  the  highest 
life  value  have  been  interpreted,  interpreta- 
tions by  which  she  would  have  deemed  her  own 
life  valueless.  Many  know  how  rich  Ellen 
Key  has  made  her  lonely  life,  and  it  has  indeed 
not  been  easy  for  her  to  believe  that  she  could 
be  misinterpreted  to  such  an  extent  as  that 
she  would  have  all  women  return  to  the  kitchen 
hearth  and  the  nursery,  while  she  herself  was 
engaged  in  large  public  activities.  It  has  been 
all  the  harder  for  her  to  tmderstand  this,  as 
the  consistency  between  her  words  and  her 
actions  is  one  of  the  strong  traits  in  her  charac- 
ter, and  if  she  had  wanted  to  turn  women  back 
to  private  life  she  herself  would  have  been  the 
first  to  return  thither. 

Ellen  Key  has  never  taken  part  in  public 


156  Ellen  Key 

charity,  the  value  of  which  she  doubts,  but 
many  little  acts  point  to  her  strong  social 
feeling,  acts  which  "charitable"  folk  would 
do  well  to  imitate.  For  instance,  she  has 
never  sent  New  Year  cards  since  she  heard  of 
a  postman  who  was  prostrated  one  New  Year's 
day!  Neither  has  she,  since  her  first  visits 
to  a  circus,  a  horse-race,  vaudeville,  and  comic 
opera  when  she  formed  her  own  opinion  of 
them,  ever  again  sought  like  amusements, 
finding  them  valueless.  Many  similar  traits 
could  be  related  of  her.  And  with  all  this 
she  possesses  the  calmest  courage  to  follow 
her  own  convictions  and  to  brave  all  storms 
when  driven  into  them  by  her  own  inner 
necessity.  It  is  worthy  of  mention  that  she 
was  found  among  the  speakers^  at  Ladugards- 
gardet,^  one  first  of  May,  to  the  horror  of  all 
her  friends,  except  such  as  were  socialists. 

Ellen  Key  is  never  led  by  anything  but  her 
own  innermost  intuition,  and,  for  her,  defiance 
for  its  own  sake  is  as  foreign  as  the  love  of 
battle  for  the  sake  of  battle.  And  when,  in 
1903,  she  left  the  community  where  she  had 
withstood  so  many  onslaughts,  it  was  neither 
faint-heartedness   nor   discouragement   which 

'■  In  behalf  of  a  normal  workday  for  women. 

*  A  large  open  field  on  the  outskirts  of  Stockholm. 


The  Last  Years  in  Stockholm     157 

drove  her  away.  It  was,  as  already  noted,  her 
deep  yearning  for  the  country,  a  yearning 
which  had  been  present  during  all  the  years  in 
Stockholm.  This  longing  did  not,  however, 
attain  its  original  goal — the  home  of  her  child- 
hood— as  she  exr  'ned  in  an  interview. 
When  the  question  s  put  to  her  as  to  where 
she  wished  to  live,  she  answered :  "  My  parental 
home,  Sundsholm,  where  I  was  bom  and  where 
I  spent  the  happy  years  of  my  childhood,  is 
now  in  the  hands  of  strangers.  Never  again 
may  I  return  there.  But  thither  I  yearn  with 
my  whole  heart,  though  in  vain.  How  happy 
I  should  be  if  I  could  procure  that  bit  of  soil, 
if  it  were  vouchsafed  me  to  enter  Sundsholm 
as  its  owner,  to  be  allowed  to  arrange  and 
direct  and  work  there,  to  see  the  trees  blossom 
and  the  grass  grow  in  the  place  where  my  soul 
and  all  my  being  have  their  roots,  and  to  sleep 
in  the  little  gable  room  where  I  dreamt  the 
dreams  of  my  childhood."  From  her  child- 
hood home  and  her  paradise,  the  little  gable 
room  at  Sundsholm,  Ellen  Key  was  driven  out 
into  the  bustling  world  to  assist  in  the  building 
of  new  homes  for  new  people.  Her  youth  and 
her  dream  life  she  carries  with  her,  and  where- 
ever  she  has  her  home  youth  and  visions  will 
accompany  her  as  long  as  she  lives. 


SUPPLEMENT 

EIGHT  years  have  passed  since  my  bio- 
graphy of  Ellen  Key  first  appeared. 
Now  that  this  revised  edition  is  to  be  published 
in  an  English  translation,  there  is  so  much 
more  to  be  said  that  I  feel  the  necessity  of 
adding  a  supplement. 

The  name  of  Ellen  Key  has  increasingly  won 
a  recognised  and  elevated  place  among  con- 
temporary thinkers.  In  all  Europe,  and  gradu- 
ally in  America,  she  has  come  to  be  of  great 
importance  for  the  highest  development  of 
humanity. 

In  her  own  country  appreciation  has  been 
slow.  "With  the  strength  and  swiftness  of  a 
storm-wind,  her  reputation  spread  over  Eu- 
rope," as  some  one  has  said,  but  in  Sweden  we 
could  not,  would  not  understand.  One  of 
our  most  prominent  critics'  gives  so  good  an 
explanation  of  this  that  I  wish  to  quote  him: 
"Sweden  is  not  yet  ripe  for  an  authorship 
of  her  kind.     As  a  general  thing  we  avoid 

'  The  young  philosopher,  Dr.  John  Landquist. 


Supplement  i59 

discussion  of  moral  and  psychological  phe- 
nomena. Our  culture  has  been  divided  into 
two  opposing  camps ;  on  the  one  side  the  ortho- 
dox religions,  on  the  other  the  purely  aesthetic, 
which  was  supposed  to  precede  the  radical 
culture  party.  .  .  .  With  us  it  is  considered 
greatest  to  romance  over  the  fate  and  conflict 
of  the  soul;  but  to  study  the  life  of  the  soul, 
without  accessory  of  myth  and  outward  events, 
to  compare,  to  seek  a  norm,  to  stumise,  and  to 
shape  that  perfection,  the  craving  for  which 
lies  at  the  very  root  of  every  struggle,  to  write 
about  the  universal  and  the  ideal — this  has 
been  considered  an  occupation  of  lower  grade, 
and  of  less  importance."  In  other  countries 
it  has  not  been  so.  Theoretical  and  moral 
interest  in  the  potent  forces  in  human  life  are 
more  developed,  freer  from  prejudice,  and 
more  desirous  of  truth.  Consequently  she 
has  been  hailed  with  enthusiasm  in  the  greater 
civilised  countries,  and  her  books  have  been 
pubHshed  in  ten  European  languages,  some  in 
fifteen  editions,  others  in  seven  and  eight. 

When  the  first  voliimes  of  her  monumental 
work,  Life-Lines,  came  out,  she  left  Sweden  for 
some  years,  contemplating  a  permanent  stay 
abroad.  She  made  long  stops  in  Germany, 
Austria,  Hungary,  Holland,  Belgium,  Switzer- 


i6o  Ellen  Key 

land,  France,  and  Italy.  The  siimmer  of  1894 
she  spent,  in  solitude,  in  a  little  peasant  cot- 
tage in  Varmland,  in  the  neighbourhood  where 
Erik  Gustaf  Geijer'  was  bom,  while  she  finished 
Life-Lines,  iii.  In  1895,  she  went  on  a  many 
months'  lecture  tour  in  Germany,  and  she 
created  such  enthusiasm  wherever  she  went 
that  the  houses  were  always  crowded  when 
she  ascended  the  platform. 

Love  and  yearning  for  her  motherland 
brought  her  back  to  Sweden,  to  the  joy  of  all 
who  appreciate  her;  and  their  number  has 
steadily  increased.  One  begins  to  understand 
that  Ellen  Key's  teaching  of  Freedom  is 
fundamentally  a  teaching  of  loyalty  to  all  that 
is  genuine  in  all  relations  of  life,  and  her  teach- 
ing of  purity  is  beginning  to  be  appreciated 
more  and  more  by  the  younger  generation. 
Her  greatest  victory  is,  that  pure-minded 
young  men  have  made  their  own  her  demands 
of  true  marriage.  One  of  the  prettiest  proofs 
of  this  is,  that  she  has  been  immortaUsed 
through  a  styHstic  portrait  in  oils  by  Einar 
Nielson,  a  Danish  artist.  He  represents  her 
as  a  seeress,  somewhat  of  a  sibyl,  a  high 
priestess  of  life,  and  has  made  this  inscription 
on  his  work :     Havde  jeg  kunnet  give  Din  A  ands 

'  Swedish  poet. 


Supplement  i6i 

renhedl  (Would  I  could  have  expressed  the 
purity  of  thy  spirit!)  The  original  was  pre- 
sented, by  admirers  of  Ellen  Key's  life-work, 
to  the  National  Museum,  where  it  has  a 
prominent  place. 

In  several  sympathetic  reviews  oi  Life -Lines, 
ii,  our  younger  philosophers  put  Ellen  Key 
on  a  high  pedestal.  They  estimate  her  as 
Sweden's  greatest  woman  since  Saint  Birgit. 
Among  those  who  rendered  her  homage  on 
her  sixtieth  birthday,  we  find  many  young 
enthusiasts,  some  of  them  our  most  prominent 
men  authors.  In  an  essay  on  Ellen  Key,  one 
young  critic  writes:  "The  theory  of  evolu- 
tion has  become  religion  in  the  soul  of  Ellen 
Key;  it  has  deepened  to  religious  thought — 
the  growth  of  the  soul,  considered  as  a  step 
in  the  world  development, — that  is  the  aim 
of  her  teaching." 

There  are  many  more  I  should  like  to  quote, 
if  space  allowed.  Ellen  Key's  sixtieth  birth- 
day was  a  jubilee.  Tribute  was  paid  to  her 
by  great  men  and  women  at  home  and  abroad. 
The  entire  press,  with  the  exception  of  the 
pietistic  papers,  united  in  singing  the  praises 
of  Ellen  Key's  pure  and  noble  personality. 
Grateful  and  admiring  words  rained  upon  her, 
as  blessed  manna  in  the  desert.     Thinking  that 


1 62  Ellen  Key 

it  might  interest  her  American  friends,  I  have 
given  in  an  appendix  some  of  the  utterances 
that  appeared  in  the  press  on  that  occasion. 

Philosophical  opponents  also  joined  the 
host  of  those  who  honoured  the  remarkable 
woman,  who  even  in  America,  has  been  called 
the  greatest  living  woman.  The  best  and 
most  lasting  tribute  she  received  from  her 
publisher,  and  personal  friend,  Karl  Otto  Bon- 
nier, owner  of  the  Albert  Bonnier  Publishing 
Co.,  when,  on  her  sixtieth  birthday,  he  pub- 
lished the  essay,  Ellen  Key,  by  John  Landquist. 
This  little  book  should  be  read  by  all  who 
wish  to  understand  Ellen  Key.  Here  we 
are  treated  to  an  estimate  of  Ellen  Key,  the 
woman  and  author,  which,  in  my  opinion,  is 
the  right  one,  showing  deep  understanding, 
and  making  clear  the  secret  of  her  successes, 
as  well  as  of  her  failures.  The  extraordinary 
phenomenon  of  her  individuality,  the  cultural 
milieu  in  which  she  moved,  the  epoch  in  which 
she  produced  her  work,  all  receive  their  right 
interpretation.  But,  it  may  be  said  of  this 
book  what  the  author  says  of  Ellen  Key's 
work,  which  I  have  already  quoted:  "We 
in  Sweden  are  not  yet  ripe," — we  do  not  care, 
consequently  we  are  not  able  to  understand. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  John  Landquist 's 


Supplement  163 

analysis  of  Ellen  Key  and  her  work  will  be 
translated  into  the  languages  in  which  she 
is  discussed. 

Ellen  Key's  open  letter  of  thanks  which  the 
press  printed,  I  quote  in  full:  "For  the  first 
time  in  sixty  years  I  ask  the  press  to  give  place 
to  a  personal  communication,  as  I  am  unable 
to  thank  privately  all  those  who  have  cast 
sunshine  over  the  entrance  to  the  autumn 
of  my  life-work. 

"  Perhaps  I  should  have  expressed  my  thanks 
by  publishing  those  greetings  in  which  many 
have  united.  But  I  hope  no  one  will  interpret 
this  omission  as  wanting  in  gratitude. 

"When  I  went  away  about  the  nth  of 
December,  to  seek  perfect  solitude,  it  was  to 
gather  quietude  for  my  memories,  and  for 
self-examination.  When  you  stand  at  the 
milestone  that  tells  you  with  certainty  that 
the  greater  road  length  lies  behind  you,  then, 
if  ever,  you  need  to  hold  a  day  of  reckoning 
with  yourself.  If  you  have  heretofore  re- 
proached Life  for  having  robbed  you  of  so 
much,  of  what  you  loved  most,  for  having 
denied  you  so  much  of  what  you  most  desired 
— on  such  a  day  it  is  only  self-accusations  that 
you  hear,  reproaches  for  your  failures  toward 
people  and  for  your  neglect  toward  life  itself. 


1 64  Ellen  Key 

"With  these  feelings  I  returned  from  the 
solitude  of  the  forest  and  was  met  with  a 
flood  of  sun  and  light.  "What  could  I  do  but 
bow  my  head  in  humility,  and  invoke  Life 
for  more  and  greater  power,  the  better  to 
deserve  all  this  kindness. 

"In  the  hope  that  this  prayer  may  be 
granted,  I  extend  to  all  my  sincere  thanks. 

"Ellen  Key. 

"JONSERED,  Dec.  1 6,  1909." 

Her  own  deep  spirit  breathes  in  it.  It  shows 
that  the  pearls  in  her  diadem  have  not  been 
dimmed  by  exaltation,  nor  their  purity  soiled 
by  slanderers  and  false  interpreters — for  they 
are  real. 

In  the  foregoing  biography  I  have  pointed 
to  the  milestones  on  the  road  which  Ellen  Key 
has  travelled.  They  showed  how  determining 
circumstances  entered  in  at  the  ages  of  twenty, 
thirty,  forty,  and  fifty  in  her  life.  She  has 
since  arrived  at  her  sixtieth  year,  and  then, 
also,  did  she  experience  something  of  great 
moment  to  her.  She  had  long  wished  for  a 
home  of  her  own,  but  had  been  unable  to  find 
an  appropriate  site,  but  on  her  sixtieth  birth- 
day the  State  granted  her  a  place  in  the 
Government  park  reservation,  on  the  Omberg 


Supplement  165 

Mountain  slope,  on  the  shore  of  Lake  Wettern, 
near  Alvastra  Cloister.  It  is  one  of  the  love- 
liest tracts  of  land  in  Sweden,  and  is  described 
by  a  renowned  journalist,  in  the  following 
enthusiastic  words :  "The  most  wonderful  thing 
about  it  is  the  view — which  might  well  have 
been  that  much  dreamed  and  simg-of  outlook 
from  Mignon's  castle  by  Lago  Maggiore. 
There  is  the  broad  water  mirror  framed  by 
trees;  elm,  oak,  and  beech  encompass  the 
home."  A  poetic  and  charming  description, 
giving  us  a  good  picture  of  the  spot  where  our 
great  Ellen  Key  has  built  her  nest.  Let  me 
also  give  some  idea  of  the  interior  of  the  home, 
and  the  purpose  for  its  future.  These  citations 
are  from  different  newspapers:  "Through 
the  centre  of  the  house  runs,  in  Italian  style, 
a  hallway  with  red  brick  floor.  It  is  finished 
in  white,  with  bright  red  doors.  The  same 
red  and  green  wreaths  which  decorate  her 
books  are  used  for  the  frieze.  On  one  wall 
hangs  a  large  framed  map  of  Sweden  with  the 
super-scription  in  blue  and  yellow  letters 
Var  forntids  land,  var  framtids  land  (The  land 
of  our  fathers,  the  land  of  our  future).  On 
the  opposite  wall  hangs  a  similar  map  of 
Wettern  and  surroundings,  with  the  super- 
scription Ddr  livets  hav  oss  gett  en  strand  (Where 


i66  Ellen  Key 

life's  sea  has  given  us  a  strand).'  And,  over 
the  door,  leading  out  to  the  front,  glows  in  red 
letters  Goethe's  reversal  of  the  Roman  death 
motto  Memento  vivere,  (Remember  to  live). 

Everything  at  Strand,  from  the  greatest  to 
the  smallest,  speaks  of  love, — thinking,  acting, 
watchful  love.  All  that  nature  has  given  has 
been  taken  advantage  of  in  the  most  careful 
and  loving  way,  has  been  preserved  and  per- 
fected; all  that  has  been  made  with  human 
hands  shows  the  inspiration  of  a  never-failing 
sense  of  fitness.  For  this  reason,  it  is  pure 
edification  to  wander  around,  within,  and  with- 
out Ellen  Key's  home.  One  is  everywhere 
struck  by  the  many  little  marvels  of  ingenuity, 
and  touched  by  the  tender  devotion  which  has 
not  allowed  a  plant  to  be  uprooted,  nor  a  twig 
cut  off,  without  due  consideration.  The  fur- 
nishing of  the  house  has  been  carefully  planned 
in  every  detail,  and  gives  many  proofs  of  great 
ingenuity.  One  would  like  to  have  whole 
classes  of  housewives  and  young  girls  sent 
there,  to  be  awakened  to  the  high  vocation 
of  home-making.  They  would  undoubtedly 
return  better  people,  particularly  if  Ellen  her- 
self had  preached  to  them  the  gospel  of  the 
home.     In  the  home  of  her  later  years  is  found 

» From  Runeberg's  Vdrt  land. 


STRAND.       THE    HOME   OF    ELLEN    KEY. 


Supplement  167 

all  that  she  has  been  able  to  save  from  the 
home  of  her  childhood.  In  her  bedroom,  we 
find  her  little  toy  furniture;  her  mother's 
rather  small  and  old-fashioned  writing-desk 
is  now  used  by  the  famous  author;  and,  on 
the  wall,  hangs  a  simple  little  bookshelf,  her 
first  acquisition  above  her  last,  a  map  of  Strand 
and  its  surroundings.  The  view  from  her 
window  she  has  tried  to  have  as  like  as  possible 
to  that  of  the  little  gable  room  of  her  girlhood, 
so  she  has  planted  two  birches  by  the  two 
springs,  and  a  mass  of  ferns  from  her  beloved 
Sundsholm. 

One  who  has  such  a  strong  home  feeling 
certainly  deserves  a  good  and  beautiful  home, 
and  thousands  of  Ellen  Key's  friends  rejoice 
with  her  that  she  has,  at  last,  gained  this,  and 
on  Swedish  soil. 

There  is  one  subject  which  especially  oc- 
cupies Ellen  Key's  thoughts  these  days.  And 
that  is  Strand's  future.  For,  when  she  built 
herself  a  home,  she  did  not  do  so  principally 
for  herself,  as  such  a  thing  would  simply  be 
impossible  for  her.  When  Ellen  Key  built 
her  home,  and  when  she  so  intensely  enjoys 
arranging  every  detail  as  beautifully  and 
practically  as  possible,  it  is  because,  in  her 
vision,  she  is  building  it  for  others.     Strand 


i68  Ellen  Key 

will  one  day  be  a  refuge  for  tired,  worn-out 
women  of  the  labouring  class.  Women  of  the 
factories  and  city  streets  may  here,  for  some 
weeks,  enjoy  sun  and  woods  and  lake,  a  good 
and  beautiful  home,  happiness,  cleanliness,  and 
comfort.  Only  foiu*  may  live  there  at  a  time, 
no  more,  since  Strand  is  to  be  a  home,  not  an 
institution.  In  each  of  the  two  smaller  rooms, 
facing  west,  a  working  woman  shall  sleep,  and 
the  large  east  room  shall  be  shared  by  two. 
Here  they  may  Hsten  to  the  lapping  of  Wet- 
tern's  waves;  they  will  wander  through  the 
great  light  beech  woods,  both  in  the  spring,  when 
the  anemones  lie  like  blue  and  white  islands 
under  the  bare  branches,  and,  in  the  autumn, 
when  the  beech  leaves  have  made  a  thick 
brown  carpet  over  the  many  curving  paths. 
They  will  sun  themselves  in  the  flower -wreathed 
loggia,  and  silently  Hsten  to  the  miurmur  of  the 
springs  on  warm  summer  days. 

The  home  will  be  open  between  May  and 
October.  The  housekeeper  is  to  have  Novem- 
ber and  December  as  a  vacation.  And,  during 
the  first  four  months  of  the  year,  young  women 
who  want  to  occupy  themselves  with  studies 
and  literary  pursuits  in  peace  and  quiet,  will 
be  received  at  Strand  as  boarders  for  a  small 
charge — enough  to  pay  expenses. 


Supplement  169 

Thus,  Ellen  Key  plans  and  dreams  of  the 
futiire  of  Strand.  In  her  mind's  eye,  she  sees 
the  white  house  filled  with  guests  from  the 
world  of  tenements  and  noisy  factories,  and, 
with  them,  she  enjoys  the  blue  Wettem,  the 
sun,  the  air,  the  light,  and  the  luxuriant  green. 
And  thus  she  is  able  to  enjoy  herself,  the  pre- 
sent in  the  thought  of  the  future,  her  own 
futiu'e  at  Strand,  and  Strand's  future  when 
she  is  no  more. 

In  the  beginning  of  1900,  Ellen  Key  moved 
away  from  Stockholm,  after  having  given  up 
her  work  as  teacher  and  lecturer.  For  years 
she  travelled  in  Germany,  France,  Italy,  years 
so  long  and  many  that  we  at  home  feared  that 
she  meant  to  desert  the  land  of  her  fathers  for 
good.  Those  who  knew  Ellen  Key,  however, 
knew  that  she  would  return,  sooner  or  later, 
because,  when  it  came  to  making  a  home,  she 
would  always  remember  that  the  home  where 
she  had  been  bom  stood  on  Swedish  soil,  that 
one  of  the  blue  lakes  of  Sweden  gleamed 
between  the  Swedish  elms  and  oaks  which 
surrounded  her  beloved  Simdsholm.  For  this 
reason,  if  for  no  other,  Ellen  Key  had  to  find 
in  Sweden  the  shore  which  would  be  her  port. 
And  she  did  return;  and  when  she  came  back 
she  was  renowned  in  Europe  and  America. 


170  Ellen  Key 

This  did  not  impress  her  much,  but  one  good 
result  came  from  her  renown — the  many 
readers  of  her  books  had  made  it  possible  for 
her  to  realise  her  dream  of  a  home  in  the 
country.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  the  green 
oak-leaf  wreath  with  the  red  ribbons  which 
decorate  her  books  is  painted  in  the  frieze 
in  her  hall.  It  is  the  books  that  have  built 
the  house,  she  says. 

In  the  preface  to  my  biographical  sketch 
of  Ellen  Key,  I  said  that  my  intention  was 
simply  to  give  a  true  picture  of  the  woman, 
Ellen  Key,  not  a  study  of  her  literary  works, 
and  that  these  had  been  mentioned  only  in  so 
far  as  they  served  to  interpret  the  personality 
of  the  author.  Since  then  John  Landquist's 
essay  on  Ellen  Key  has  complemented  my 
sketch,  as  I  have  already  said.  But  as  Ellen 
Key's  spiritual  development  has  proceeded  in 
the  same  direction  as  my  own,  my  personal 
experiences  make  me  feel  that  I  stand  nearer 
to  her,  in  certain  ways,  than  John  Landquist. 

I  wish  to  add  a  few  words  of  warm  gratitude 
because  she  has  given  us  the  history  of  her 
religion  of  life,  and  has  communicated  to  us 
the  sources  of  her  spiritual  life.  To  be  able 
to  assimilate  the  spiritual  food  offered  in  Ellen 
Key's  Life-Lines,  one  needs  calmness  and  the 


Supplement  171 

concentration  of  all  the  forces  of  the  soul,  per- 
severing watchfulness,  and  quiet  patience. 
And  the  moment  will  come,  when  the  horizon 
clears,  and  every  thought  and  every  word 
will  stand  illumined  by  the  pure  light  which 
shines  from  out  of  the  mist  which  had  hidden 
the  true  understanding  of  her  meaning.  In 
such  a  moment,  the  soul  feels  itself  able  to 
rise  above  the  woes  of  this  world.  Spiritual 
health  exhilarates  one's  being.  In  such  a 
moment  one  feels  that  "joy  is  perfection." 

In  Life-Lines,  ii.,  I  have  found  the  rich- 
est treasures.  The  work,  as  a  whole,  con- 
tains the  many  and  varied  lessons  which  are 
necessary  for  a  variety  of  souls.  May  these 
lessons  be  received  in  the  spirit  in  which  they 
are  given  by  Ellen  Key,  in  the  enthusiasm 
of  love  as  an  enhancer  of  life  and  happiness. 
These  have  helped  to  bring  me  through  the 
heavy  gates  which  I  thought  had  closed  the 
road  to  life  forever.  And,  therefore,  I  wish 
to  bear  witness  to  the  strengthening  and 
fortifying  power  of  The  Religion  of  Life. 

Volumes  ii.  and  iii.  of  Life-Lines  appeared 
in  1905  and  1906,  after  my  biography  had  been 
published. 

After  the  preface  to  volume  ii.,  Ellen  Key 
wrote  a  postscript   of  great   importance.     It 


172  Ellen  Key 

contains  a  communication  to  her  readers  which 
explains  her  object  in  preluding  this  monu- 
mental work — called  classical  by  some  au- 
thors— ^with  the  Course  of  Development  of 
Sexual  Morality.  Life-Lmes,  i.,  as  well  as  ii. 
and  iii.,  consists  of  two  volimies  each.  When 
the  first  part  appeared,  with  nine  chapters 
devoted  to  the  different  phases  of  sex-life,  of 
legal  and  illegal  unions,  with  the  headings: 
"  The  Evolution  of  Love ; "  "  Love's  Freedom ; " 
"Love's  Selection,"  etc.,  the  author  became 
the  object  of  dangerous  misunderstanding. 
Her  gospel  of  love  was  interpreted  as  an  ex- 
pression of  so  passionate  an  appreciation  of 
erotic  life  that  it  could  be  considered  her 
religion.  And  this,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
she  had  to  her  credit  a  large  literary  output, 
barely  a  twentieth  part  of  which  dealt  with 
erotic  problems,  as  she  herself  declares. 

Now  the  truth  of  the  matter  is  that  Life- 
Lines,  ii.  as  well  as  iii.  had  already  been 
sketched  before  i.,  but  the  latter  was  published 
first  because  the  relation  which  creates  the  race 
must  be  the  First  Article  in  the  Religion  of  Life. 

It  is  to  be  deplored  that  the  second  and  third 
volumes  were  not  at  once  translated  into  the 
languages  in  which  the  first  volume  had  become 
known.     In  John  Landquist's  essay  on  Ellen 


Supplement  173 

Key  (page  58,  and  following)  there  is  a  good 
resume  of  the  different  volumes  of  Life- Lines. 
Ellen  Key  concentrates  the  subject-matter  in 
the  three  volumes  in  this  manner:  in  the  pre- 
face to  the  third  volume,  Part  I,  the  First 
Article  of  the  Religion  of  Life  deals  with  the 
primary  cause  and  power  of  production,  with 
the  Will  that  creates  life  and  struggles  for 
existence.  The  Second  Article  of  the  Religion 
of  Life,  vol.  ii.,  deals  with  living  and  growing 
together,  with  the  Will  that  liberates  and 
unites  life.  The  Third  Article  of  the  Religion 
of  Life,  vol.  iii.,  deals  with  the  manifold  com- 
plexities and  the  feeling  of  power,  with  life's 
Will  enlarging  the  soul  and  creating  beauty. 
The  synthesis  in  the  Religion  of  Life  contains, 
in  a  word,  Evolutionism,  Solidarity,  and 
Individualism.  And,  in  order  still  further 
to  elucidate  the  inner  mieaning  of  the  moral 
law  of  the  Religion  of  Life,  she  says:  ''The 
forces  which  are  set  in  motion  by  the  race-life, 
community-life,  and  the  personal  soul-life, 
ought  to  be  used  so  that  they  may  enhance 
life  and  happiness  in  general  and  for  the 
individual,  whether  the  latter 's  love,  work,  and 
faith  cause  his  life  to  radiate  joy  or  sorrow. " 

Since  Ellen  Key's  monumental  work,  Life- 
Lines,  appeared,  she  has  VvTitten  many  smaller 


174  Ellen  Key 

but  very  significant  books :  TJie  Life  of  Rahd 
Varnhagen  in  1908,  which  was  paUkiied  in 

German  by  the  Haberland  Ptiblishing  Co.  in 
Leipzig,  and  then  in  Swedish,  and  which  had 
to  be  issued  here  in  a  second  edition  within  a 
fortnight.  John  Landquist,  in  his  brilliant 
review,  points  to  German  Romanticism  as  the 
spiritual  home  of  Ellen  Key,  and  says:  "None 
of  our  modem  writers  is  so  satiated  by  the 
culture  which  blossoms  around  Goethe  as  is 
Ellen  Key."  In  Rahel  Varnhagen,  Ellen  Key 
makes  us  acquainted  with  this  unique  woman, 
and  the  milieu  in  which  she  lives.  This 
Jewish  banker's  daughter,  who  gathered  in  her 
salon  all  that  Berlin  boasted  of  genius  and 
culture,  is  the  subject  of  Ellen  Key's  '"sjTn- 
pathetic  and  living  biography."  Space  does 
not  allow  more  than  passing  mention  of  the 
books  she  has  sent  forth  since  Life-Lines. 

In  June  1909,  the  Kvinnororehen  appeared 
in  German,  in  the  series  Die  Gesellschaft 
published  by  Martin  Buber.  According  to 
the  publisher's  desire  she  had  to  confine  her- 
self to  the  new  soul  conditions,  transitions, 
and  interactions,  which  the  Kv-innororelsen 
had  produced. 

In  The  Forum,  October,  191 1,  I  read  with 
pleasure   a   most   excellent   essay  by   Hanna 


ELLEN    KEY,     1911. 
FROM   A   PHOTOGRAPH   TAKEN   AT    HER   HOME,    STRAND. 


Supplement  175 

Astrup  Larsen,  Ellen  Key,  an  Apostle  of  Life, 
giving  a  good  account  of  this  book  which  she 
calls  the  Woman  Movement,  though  it  had  not 
yet  been  translated  into  English. 

It  is  a  remarkable  book,  a  veritable  treasure 
house  for  those  who  are  interested  in  knowing 
the  trend  of  this  movement  and  its  influence. 
As  the  author  always  has  stood  outside  the 
struggle,  she  is  able  to  give  an  objective  report 
of  its  course.  In  a  masterly  and  dispassionate 
manner,  she  sums  up  her  own  observations, 
and  gives  some  illustrating  examples  of  the 
views  and  opinions  which  she  has  held  ever 
since  youth.  (For  details,  see  ante,  pages 
106  to  113.) 

Another  splendid  work  from  Ellen  Key's 
diligent  pen,  like  everything  else  she  has 
written,  bearing  witness  of  deep  insight,  rich 
historic  material,  and  love  of  the  subject,  is 
Folkbildningsarbetet,  Sdrskilt  med  hdnsyn  till 
Skonhets  sinnets  odling  (The  Work  for  the 
Education  of  the  People,  especially  with  Refer- 
ence to  the  Cultivation  of  the  Sense  of  Beauty). 

Werk  och  Mdnniskor  (Men  and  Works)  is 
a  great  book  in  which  Ellen  Key  has  gathered 
together  essays  and  sketches  which  had  pre- 
viously appeared  in  national  and  foreign 
periodicals.     There  is  much  to  learn  and  much 


176  Ellen  Key 

to  enjoy.  In  the  literary  essays,  she  shows 
proof  of  delicate  and  poignant  skill  in  the  art 
of  characterisation;  among  her  reminiscences 
from  the  South,  she  gives  a  glorious  descrip- 
tion of  Saint  Francis  of  Assisi ;  in  her  essay  on 
Rainer  Maria  Rilke,  she  gives  a  profound 
interpretation  of  the  life  consciousness  of  the 
new  type  of  beings,  and  perhaps  the  most 
interesting  chapters  are  those  dealing  with 
Maeterlinck  and  Verhaeren  in  which  she  gives 
us  a  glimpse  of  their  intimate  life  as  only  a 
personal  friend  is  able  to  do. 

Tal  till  Sveriges  Ungdom  (Addresses  to 
Swedish  Youth)  consists  of  a  number  of 
lectures  which  she  has  given  during  later  years 
at  different  meetings,  and  before  clubs.  Well- 
considered  and  clear-sighted  counsel,  she  offers 
the  young  in  the  struggle  against  all  dangerous 
forces  which  life  puts  in  their  way.  Even  this 
is  a  valuable  educational  work. 

Very  much  more  might  be  added,  but  my 
supplement  would  be  all  too  long.  What  is 
most  important  has  been  said. 

Ellen  Key's  literary  productiveness  con- 
tinues. If  I  am  not  mistaken,  she  has  begun 
a  biography  of  her  father,  which  is  likely  to  be 
of  great  value.  During  the  glorious  summer 
season,  she  breathes  the  air  of  the  beautiful 


Suppjement  177 

country  which  surrounds  her  at  her  Strand. 
In  the  meantime,  she  gathers  fresh  strength 
for  new  winter  work,  indefatigable  in  her 
endeavour  to  enlighten,  guide,  and  make 
happy. 


APPENDIX 

QUOTATIONS   FROM   PRESS   UTTERANCES  ABOUT 
ELLEN    KEY   ON   HER   SIXTIETH   BIRTHDAY 

THE  well-known  Danish  critic,  George  Brandes, 
writes:  "...  Ellen  Key  has  influenced  women 
as  no  one  else.  .  .  .  She  has  known  her  sex.  Women 
have  felt  themselves  understood  by  her.  .  .  .  She 
has  widened  their  views,  overcome  their  prejudices, 
liberated  their  thoughts,  awakened  their  courage  to 
live.  She  has  given  women  self-confidence.  She  has 
instilled  hope.  .  .  .  Ellen  Key  is  a  purity  enthusiast. 
Though  caring  little  for  the  external  forms  of  moral- 
ity, she  yet  Hves  and  breathes  the  highest  and  purest 
moral  atmosphere.  .  .  .  She  is  and  remains  a  brave 
and  noble  priestess  of  high  personal  culture." 

Eugen  Diederichs  of  Jena,  one  of  Germany's  fore- 
most publishers,  writes:  "  .  .  .1  think  of  Ellen  Key  as 
a  worthy  counterpart  of  otir  Excellence  Hackel,  an 
Excellence  Number  2,  just  as  warm-hearted,  and  with 
the  same  artistic  nature,  just  as  derided,  as  great  an 
optimist  and  liberator  by  her  faith  in  the  good  of 
human  beings.  ...  Is  not  her  demand  for  the  evolu- 
tion of  the  soul  the  same  as  the  principle  of  culture  in 
Humboldt's  mind?  .  .  .    One  fragrant  warm  May  day, 

179 


i8o  Ellen  Key 

just  ari  the  sun  was  setting,  Ellen  Key  preached  to  us 
in  Jena  a  real  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  She  stood  on 
the  hill  and  we  gathered  at  her  feet,  first  the  youth, 
even  to  the  peasants  in  neighbouring  villages  who  had 
come  to  sing  folk  songs  in  honour  of  Ellen  Key.  .  .  . 
She  spoke  of  the  old  spirits  of  Jena,  of  Schiller  and 
Goethe.  It  was  an  unforgettable  occasion.  .  .  .  Ellen 
Key  with  her  great  warm  heart  remains  forever  young. 
And,  therefore,  we  feel  that  she  belongs  to  us  in  Jena." 

The  gifted  Belgian  nature  philosopher  and  drama- 
tist, Maeterlinck,  writes:  "I  unite  my  voice  with  all 
those  of  the  civilised  world  who,  to-day,  hail  the  good, 
the  noble,  the  heroic  Ellen  Key, — the  great  liberator 
who,  in  our  children,  will  find  more  enlightened,  more 
enthusiastic  and  trusty  followers." 

The  French  novelist,  Paul  Margueritte,  sends  the 
following  message:  "I  have  the  deepest  admiration 
for  Ellen  Key's  works  and  the  greatest  respect  for  her 
person.  She  embodies  one  of  the  finest  types  of 
thinking  and  courageous  humanity  which  makes 
marks  in  the  history  of  ideas.  I  fervently  unite  with 
all  those  who  bring  her  homage. " 

Ada  Negri,  the  poor  Italian  school-teacher  who  is 
one  of  her  country's  loveliest  poets,  writes:  "Ellen 
Key,  radiant  creature  of  purity  and  beauty!  ...  I 
think  of  her  as  a  liberator  of  woman's  soul. " 

Gabriele  Reuter,  German  author,  whose  novels  deal 
with  problems  similar  to  those  treated  by  Ellen  Key, 
writes:    "  In  Ellen  Key  has  arisen  one  of  those  priestly 


Appendix  i8i 

women  who,  of  old,  were  honoured  as  Sibyls  or  Norns. 
In  them  were  always  found  a  deeper  and  purer  know- 
ledge of  the  needs  and  desires  of  the  soul  than  in 
priests,  kings,  and  warriors.  ...  As  to  these  holy,  wise 
women  of  the  ancient  world,  so  those  seeking  help 
and  counsel  to-day  may  turn  to  Ellen  Key.  They 
will  always  find  her  ready  and  willing  to  share  the 
flame  of  ideals  whose  caretaker  she  is  called  by  the 
spirit  to  be." 

Professor  G.  F.  Steffen  is  one  of  Sweden's  foremost 
national  economists  and  a  profound  student  of  social 
conditions.  He  writes  of  Ellen  Key:  "It  has  never 
been  difficult  for  me  to  understand  and  appreciate 
Ellen  Key's  life-work  as  the  highest  form  of  ethical 
striving.  The  logic  we  principally  must  demand  of 
an  ethical  pioneer  is  not  that  of  the  cognitive  faculty, 
but  the  logic  of  the  will  and  the  emotions.  His  first 
and  last  mission  is,  not  intellectually  to  miiTor  what 
surrounds  one,  but  from  within  oneself  to  create  a  new 
reality,  the  value  of  which  consists  in  that  it  promotes 
the  evolution  of  life.  With  the  exception  of  Krapot- 
kin,  I  have  never  known  an  ethical  logician  so  strong 
in  intuition,  so  pure  in  soul  as  Ellen  Key.  And, 
just  as  my  love  of  Krapotkin  is  undisturbed  by  my 
objections  to  his  scientific  methods,  my  warm  respect 
for  Ellen  Key  is  not  the  least  diminished  by  my 
discernment  of  the  weak  points  in  her  intellectual 
logic.  Neither  am  I  intimidated  by  her  audacity, 
her  good  will  to  brave  moral  dangers  in  trying  to 
attain  a  higher  moral  reality.  All  creating  activity 
necessarily  brings  us  into  dangers  ...  at  the  same  time 
that  it  saves  us  from  the  danger  of  petrification.    Life  is 


i82  Ellen  Key 

but  a  choice  between  the  danger  of  falling  into  a  deeper 
and  deeper  sleep  or  the  danger  of  awakening  to  a 
clearer  and  clearer  consciousness.  In  Ellen  Key's 
sovd  there  is  a  priceless  wealth  of  the  courage  which 
leads  us  onward  to  meet  nobler  life  dangers.  The 
weak  in  spirit  may  have  to  be  on  their  guard  against 
her.  But,  with  Ellen  Key,  I  do  not  believe  it  is  moral 
to  regulate  life  by  considering  the  desire  to  remain 
undistiirbed  of  those  that  are  decayed  and  petrified." 

Vitalis  Norstrom,  professor  of  philosophy,  one  of 
Sweden's  most  profound  thinkers,  and  the  most  im- 
portant and  worthy  opponent  of  Ellen  Key's  philo- 
sophy, offers  her  the  following  tribute:  "I  have  never 
doubted  Ellen  Key's  sincerity  of  heart,  her  rich  mind 
and  her  genius.  Her  personality  radiates  too  much 
warmth  and  her  pen  sheds  a  too  strong  brilHancy 
to  leave  room  for  such  doubt.  Her  great  influence 
would  also  be  inexplicable  otherwise.  In  the  de- 
partment of  popular  philosophy  she  holds  a  high  place 
of  honour.  But  there  is  one  thing  Ellen  Key  has 
never  understood:  to  kneel  before  the  celestial  figure 
of  TRUTH  without  any  side  thoughts.  The  logical 
passion  of  truth-seeking  she  does  not  know.  The  joys 
and  woes  of  pure  thinking  were  never  hers.  It  is  with 
the  HEART  she  fights  and  with  the  heart  she  suffers. 
But  now  I  am,  more  than  formerly,  inclined  to  believe 
that  she  has  in  no  wise  fought  and  suffered  in  vain. 
When  purging  Time  has  passed  over  her  works,  there 
will  remain  that  which  will  place  Ellen  Key  among  the 
signs  foreboding  the  new  day,  the  day  which  she  her- 
self had  divined  and  dreamt,  but  which  will  be  far 
better  than  her  own  prophetic  vision." 


Appendix  183 

Professor  Verner  S6derhielm,  Finland's  foremost 
historian  of  literature,  expresses  his  opinion  of  Ellen 
Key  as  follows:  "When  I  think  of  Ellen  Key  the 
living  woman  arises  before  my  mind's  eye  rather 
than  her  works,  the  speaking  rather  than  the  writing 
Ellen  Key.  And  when  I  read  her  writings  I  always 
seem  to  hear  the  sound  of  her  voice  with  its  inimitably 
tender  inflection;  and  because  her  writings  carry  the 
impress  of  extempore  discourse  they  have  all  its  im- 
pulsive enthusiasm,  the  strong  emphasis,  the  per- 
suasiveness, the  lack  of  small  consideration  of  possible 
critical  objections.  And  now  when  I  am  to  pay 
tribute  to  Ellen  Key  on  a  day  when  the  thoughts  of 
the  sixty  years  she  has  lived  give  us  occasion  to  think 
over  and  sum  up  her  work  and  her  person,  she  stands 
for  me  principally  as  an  awakener,  a  teacher,  an 
inspirer,  and  any  effort  to  analyse  her  ideas  or  her 
style  of  presentation  of  her  works  seems  at  this 
moment  farther  from  me  than  ever. 

"Ellen  Key  possesses  certain  qualities,  rare  in  con- 
temporary times,  which  seem  to  me  to  constitute  her 
best  characteristics  and  her  greatest  strength.  While 
other  spiritual  labourers  isolate  themselves  or  suspi- 
ciously avoid  people  she  is  greatly  attracted  to  them, 
she  has  a  trust  in  human  beings  and  a  wealth  of  love 
for  them  which  on  the  other  hand  makes  it  possible 
for  her  to  draw  and  unite  them  like  the  fire  on  the 
hearth.  .  .  .  While  in  others  the  sensibility  to  criticism 
and  polemics  is  developed  to  an  abnormal  degree,  she 
goes  forward  with  a  courage,  a  frankness,  and  a  com- 
municativeness which  radiate  the  joy  of  her  own 
enthusiasm.  While  others  so  often  doubt  and  hesi- 
tate she  has  a  blind  faith  in  the  power  of  the  indi- 


1 84  Ellen  Key 

vidual  and  of  society  to  attain  the  happy  life  of  which 
she  dreams. 

"  While  others  grow  bitter  towards  life,  she  loves  it, 
she  sees,  enjoys,  and  learns  of  everything  everywhere 
(I  have  observed  it  in  many  places  and  climes,  from 
the  northern  winter  to  Sicily's  spring  .  .  .)  with  a 
physical  and  spiritual  buoyancy  which  is  absolutely 
amazing.  With  such  qualities  one  can  remove  mount- 
ains and  break  roads  through  jungles  and  darkness." 

From  the  many  well-known  Swedish  writers  and 
artists  who  paid  Ellen  Key  honour  we  will  quote 
certain   excerpts. 

"...  Ellen  Key  is  the  born  citizen  of  the  world.  Her 
whole  broad,  full-blooded,  all-embracing,  living  and 
thoroughly  cultivated  nature  with  its  phenomenal 
recepti^dty  and  compassion  claims  the  Universe  for 
her  own  country,  as  a  field  of  action  for  her  boundless 
tenderness.  She  represents  '  Samhalls  moderlighet ' 
(a  phrase  invented  by  her,  meaning  vSocial  Motherli- 
ness)  in  its  highest  potency,  in  its  broadest  and  most 
beautiful  sense." — Rickard  Berg. 

"Ellen  Key  is  dangerous,  say  the  good  citizens. 
Aye,  and  happily  so.  Dangerous  to  those  who  can- 
not understand  and  follow  her  ideal.  From  the 
fresh  fountain  of  her  pure  soul  there  have  streamed 
regenerating  thoughts,  feelings,  ideas,  and  visions  in 
marvellous  womanly  luxuriance.  And  when  weak 
mortals  have  become  intoxicated  by  the  draught  she 
has  offered  them,  good  citizens  have  cried:  'For 
God's  sake,  stop  up  the  spring,  drain  the  ground,  do 
anything  that  will  end  this — drive  the  woman  out  of 
the  country ! ' 


Appendix  185 

"But  Ellen  Key  has  not  let  her  living  soul  run  dr3^ 
and  nothing  has  been  able  to  check  the  streams  of 
tenderness  from  her  over-flowing  heart.  This  is  her 
greatness.     May  we  thank  her!" — Poul  Bjerre. 

"...  The  greatest  quality  in  Ellen  Key  is  her  good- 
ness, a  goodness  which  allows  us  to  forget  her  great- 
ness, but  which  itself  can  never  be  forgotten.  The 
warmth  which  radiates  from  a  truly  good  person 
Ellen  Key  has  and  gives  in  richest  measures.  And 
she  does  not  save  it  merely  for  great  occasions,  when 
she  lets  it  stream  forth  and  inspire  listening  crowds. 
She  gives  of  her  best  to  the  little  children  gathered  for 
a  fairy  tale  around  her  evening  fire,  or  to  a  group 
of  working  women  to  whom  she  gives  a  few  hours' 
recreation.  ...  In  her  striving  toward  great  goals 
she  never  forgets  to  use  the  small  opportunities  of 
bringing  help  or  joy  to  a  fellow-man."  Emilie  Broome. 

"The  remarkable  thing  about  Ellen  Key  is  that 
even  critics  can  this  day  be  present  with  good  con- 
science among  those  who  hail  her. 

"The  wreath  offered  by  the  critic  is  perhaps  not  the 
poorest  when  he  says:  'If  you,  according  to  my  con- 
ception, have  seen  wrongly,  you  have  primarily  done 
so  because  you  have  not  perceived  the  rarity  of  your 
own  character.  You  have  judged  the  earth  by  your 
own  rich,  good  soil  where  no  evil  thrives  and  often 
you  have  gone  on  the  rocks  and  in  the  sand,  and 
gathered  sunshine  and  warm  breezes.  Your  path 
has  not  been  easy  and  you  have  never  shunned  trouble. 
The  sun  has  often  been  hidden  and  the  winds  have 
been  cold  and  bitter.     But  you  have  met  it  all  bravely 


i86  Ellen  Key 

and  if  courage  and  faith  could  help;  you  would  have 
accomplished  all.  But  they  do  not  suffice  for  every- 
thing. The  human  soil  is  heavy  to  prepare,  the  fire 
must  bum,  and  the  iron  plough  long  yet  before  spring 
will  come,  and  even  then  it  can  hardly  be  yours.  But 
for  yourself  there  is  eternal  spring.  That  is  much, 
that  is  great!  And  as  nothing  great  is  in  vain,  we 
bow  gladly  to  you  not  only  in  respect,  but  in  grati- 
tude.'"— Per  Hallstrom. 

"Ellen  Key's  ideals  are  not  mine.  But  I  love  her 
personality,  and  few  are  the  persons  in  whose  presence 
I  have  felt  such  a  life-giving  harmony  in  all  existence, 
and  very  rare  are  those  who  with  such  loving  under- 
standing and  compassionate  mind  can  receive  all 
that  one  gives  out,  as  Ellen  Key  does.  The  broadly 
and  tenderly  human  in  her  nature  seems  to  me  the 
greatest  and  most  significant  of  her  characteristics." 

Helena  Nyblom. 

"...  Ellen  Key  is  an  artist  nature,  .  .  .  not  only 
in  creating  artistic  expressions,  but  in  a  far  deeper 
sense.  She  is  one  who  divines  and  sees  as  a  living 
reality  that  which  lies  beyond  the  horizon,  and  she  has 
the  power  to  make  this  a  reality  also  for  others  who 
yearn.  And  she  has  the  artist's  ecstasy  for  life.  She 
has  travelled  her  road  of  life  with  her  Master  Life's 
genius  at  her  side,  and  meekly  and  exaltedly  listened 
to  his  words.  Well  may  she  say  with  the  words  of 
the  apostle:  'Was  not  my  heart  burning  in  me  when 
he  spoke  to  me  on  the  way?'  Life  has  given  her  joy 
and  woe,  hot  battles  and  great  peace." 

Odal  Ottelin. 


Appendix  187 

"How  glorious  it  would  be  to  have  lived  a  long 
life  and  still  love  humanity  as  tenderly  as  does  Ellen 
Key!" — Hanna  Pauli. 

"...  The  words  that  give  the  key  to  Ellen  Key's 
personality  are:  idealism  and  love  for  humanity. 
These  traits  are  so  strong  in  her  that  no  bitter  ex- 
perience has  been  able  to  disturb  or  diminish  them. 
She  looks  away  from  the  faults  and  weaknesses  of  the 
individual,  she  appreciates  the  best  in  each  person- 
ality, she  looks  at  one  as  one  might  have  been,  or  may 
become  if  the  noblest  tendencies  under  favourable  cir- 
cumstances are  allowed  highest  development.  To 
understand,  to  beautify,  and  to  admire  is  as  natural 
for  Ellen  Key  as  to  breathe.  Her  overestimation  of 
human  nature,  her  bright  faith  in  its  swift  perfect- 
ibiHty,  her  conviction  that  what  she  calls  the  'com- 
mon virtues,'  such  as  integrity,  trustworthiness, 
conscientiousness,  are  just  as  natural  to  the  majority 
as  they  are  to  her,  form  the  basis  of  her  mistakes  and 
of  others'  misunderstanding  of  her  actual  meaning." 

Anna  Whitlock. 

"  A  woman  with  so  marvellous  a  sensitiveness  to  all 
that  is  young  and  growing  and  spring-like  cannot  but 
be  a  bright  power  in  her  land.  Fighting  and  inspiring 
others  to  fight,  notwithstanding  all  the  gentleness  of 
her  being,  she  stands  in  our  culture  as  a  dreamer  in 
armour." — Anders  Osterling. 


Motherliness  and  Education 
for  Motherhood 

By  Ellen  Key 

The  author  considers  certain  problems  connected  with  woman's 
most  important  mission.  She  calls  the  attention  of  an  age  that  is 
the  victim  of  divergent  interests  to  the  ancient  claim  of  the  child 
upon  the  mother,  a  claim  that  represents  the  most  elemental  of 
altruistic  bonds.  Ellen  Key  points  out  that  motherhood  and  the 
division  of  labor  between  the  sexes,  taking  people  in  the  aggregate, 
is  a  natural  one.  An  interesting  suggestion  toward  the  solution  of 
certain  social  problems  is  made  in  the  form  of  a  proposed  sub- 
sidizing of  motherhood. 


Ellen   Key 

Her  Life  and  Her  Work.     A  Critical  Study 

By  Louise  Nystrom-Hamilton 

Translated  by  Anna  E.  B.  Fries 
12°.     With  Portrait.    $1.50  net.    By  mail,  $1.65 

The  name  of  Ellen  Key  has  for  years  been  a  target  for  attacks  of 
various  kinds.  Her  critics,  not  content  with  decrying  and  distort- 
ing the  message  that  she  had  to  give  to  the  world,  have  even 
attacked  her  personal  character;  and  as  the  majority  of  these  had 
no  direct  knowledge  in  the  matter,  strange  rumors  and  fancies 
have  been  spread  abroad  about  her  life .  The  readers  of  her  books 
who  are  now  to  be  counted  throughout  the  world  by  the  hundreds 
of  thousands,  who  desire  to  know  the  truth  about  this  much  dis- 
cussed Swedish  author,  will  be  interested  in  this  critical  study  by 
Louise  Hamilton.  The  author  is  one  who  has  been  intimate  with 
Ellen  Key  since  her  youth.  She  is  herself  the  wife  of  the  founder 
of  the  People's  Hospital  in  Stockholm,  where  for  over  twenty  years 
Ellen  Key  taught  and  lectured. 

G.  P.   Putnam's   Sons 

New  York  London 


By  ELLEN  KEY 


The  Century  of  the  Child 

Cr.  8°.     Wilh  Frontispiece.     Net  $1.50.     By  mail, 
$1.65 

CONTENTS:  The  Right  of  the  Child  to  Choose  His 
Parents,  The  Unborn  Race  and  Woman's  Work,  Education, 
Homelessness,  Soul  Murder  in  the  Schools,  The  School  of 
the  Future,  Religious  Instruction,  Child  Labor  and  the 
Crunes  of  Children.  This  book  has  gone  through  more 
than  twenty  German  Editions  and  has  been  published  in 
several  European  countries. 

"A  powerful  book." — N.  Y.  Times. 

"  A  profound  and  analytical  discussion  by  a  great  Scandinavian 
teacher,  of  the  reasons  why  modern  education  does  not  better 
educate." — A^.  Y.  Christian  Herald. 

The  Education  of  the  Child 

Reprinted  from  the  Authorized  American  Edition  of 
The  Century  of  the  Child.  With  Introductory  Note  by 
EDWARD  BOK. 

Cr.  8°.     Net  75  cents.     By  mail,  85  cents 

"  Nothing  finer  on  the  wise  education  of  the  child  has  ever  been 
brought  into  print.  To  me  this  chapter  is  a  perfect  classic;  it  points 
the  way  straight  for  every  parent,  and  it  should  find  a  place  in  every 
home  in  America  where  there  is  a  chUd."— EDWARD  BOK,  Editor 
of  the  Ladies'  Home  Journal. 

"  This  book,  by  one  of  the  most  thoughtful  students  of  child  life 
among  current  writers,  is  one  that  will  prove  invaluable  to  parents 
who  desire  to  develop  in  their  children  that  strength  of  character, 
self-control  and  personality  that  alone  makes  for  a  well-rounded  use- 
ful and  happy  \iie."— Baltimore  Sun. 


G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons 

New  York  London 


By  ELLEN  K^^ 


Love  and   Marriage 

Cr.  8°.     Net  $1.50.     By  mail,  $1.65 

"  One  of  the  profoundest  and  most  important  pronouncements  of 
the  woman's  movement  th.it  has  yet  found  expression.  .  .  .  Intensely 
modern  in  her  attitude,  Miss  Key  has  found  a  place  for  all  the 
conflicting  philosophies  of  the  day,  has  taken  what  is  good  from  each, 
has  affected  the  compromise,  which  is  always  the  road  to  advance- 
ment, between  individualism  and  socialism,  realism  and  idealism, 
morality  and  the  new  thought.  She  is  more  than  a  metaphysical 
philosopher.  She  is  a  seer,  a  prophet.  She  brings  to  her  aid 
psychology,  history,  science,  and  then  something  more — inspiration 
and  hope." — Boston  Transcript. 

The   Woman  Movement 

Translated  by  Mamah  Bouton  Borthwick,  A.M. 
With  an  Introduction  by  Havelock  Ellis 

12°.     Net  $1.50.     By  mail,  $1.65 

This  is  not  a  history  of  the  woman's  movement,  but  a  statement 
of  what  Ellen  Key  considers  to  be  the  new  phase  it  is  now  entering 
on,  a  phase  in  which  the  claim  to  exert  the  rights  and  functions  of 
men  is  less  important  than  the  claims  of  woman's  rights  as  tho 
mother  and  educator  of  the  coming  generation. 

Rahel   Varnhagen 

A  Portrait 

Translated  by  Arthur  E.  Chater 
With  an  Introduction  by  Havelock  Ellis 

12°.    With  Portraits.    Net  $1.50.    By  mail,  $1.65 

A  biography  from  original  sources  of  one  who  has  been  described 
as  among  the  first  and  greatest  of  modern  women.  The  book  is  a 
portrait  sketch  of  Rahel  Varnhagen,  and  her  characteristics,  as_  "  a 
prophecy  of  the  woman  of  the  future,"  are  illustrated  by  copious 
extracts  from  her  correspondence. 


G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons 

New  York  London 


"  XHo  most  complete  and  compact  study  that 
has  yet  been  made  of  tK©  evolution  of  -soman's 
rights" — M.    Y.    Evening  Globe. 


A  Short  History 
of  Women's  Rights 

From  tKe  days    of   Avigvista    to   tHe 
Present  Time 

With  Special  Reference  to  England  and  the  United  States 

By  Eugene  A.  HecKer 

Master   in    the    Roxbury   I^atin   School,   Author   of 
"The   Teaching  of  Latin    in  Secondary  Schools  " 

Crown  Svo.     ^I.SO  net.     {By  mail,  $1.65) 


Mr.  Hecker,  an  authoritative  scholar,  has  set  him- 
self the  task  of  telling  the  story  of  women's  progress,  and 
has  done  it  with  much  painstaking  and  thoroughness, 
and  with  a  manifestation  of  a  high  order  of  talent  for 
discriminating  as  to  materials  and  presenting  them 
convincinglj'  and  interestingly.  .  .  .  One  feels  the 
studiousness  of  the  author  in  every  page.  The  matter 
presented  is  not  only  carefully  arranged,  but  it  is  in  a 
manner  digested  too;  and  thus  the  work  becomes 
literature  in  a  true  sense,  and  not  an  unenlightened 
assembly  of  details  and  facts  from  the  pages  of  the  past. 

5/.  Louis  Times. 


G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons 

New  YorK  London 


University  of  California 

SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

305  De  Neve  Drive  -  Parking  Lot  17  •  Box  951388 

LOS  ANGELES,  CALIFORNIA  90095-1388 

Return  this  material  to  the  library  from  which  it  was  borrowed. 


AC  NOV  n  1 2001 


JAN  14  2008' 


Ill  11111111111111  III  II 


3  1205  001 


94  4048 


«^ 


AA    000  589  118    g 


!!:■■  ■'; 


I'll 


i'i.iii 


